§ 24. Mr. Willeyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will now state when work will be commenced on the Tyne Tunnel.
§ Mr. WatkinsonI would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) on 18th December.
§ Mr. WilleyIs it necessary for me to tell the right hon. Gentleman that that reply is thoroughly unsatisfactory to everyone on the North-East Coast? Would he at any rate undertake to meet representatives of the Tyne Tunnel Committee to see what work could be profitably undertaken?
§ Mr. WatkinsonI am always willing to do what I can to help, but as I have explained before, within the scope of the road programme, which is going on well, there are some very large engineering projects, of which the Tyne Tunnel is one, which really need some special consideration, not only from the point of view of what we are doing here at home, but also from the point of view of the load it puts on the civil engineering industry in relation to exports. As soon as we have completed this consideration, which I hope will be quite soon, we shall be in a better position to see how we stand.