§ 36. Mr. Rankinasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will reconsider the use and application of the terms "municipal" and "international" in so far as the official classification of airports is concerned.
§ Mr. William RodgersWe do not classify United Kingdom airports in this way. The International Civil Aviation 887 Organisation classifies certain aerodromes as international but the term "municipal airport" is not used.
§ Mr. RankinI am very glad to hear that statement and I take it that Glasgow Airport will no longer in any circumstances whatever be referred to as a municipal airport.
§ Mr. RodgersI am sure that the future of Glasgow Airport will turn on something rather more significant than the way in which it is described and I know the active championship of Glasgow which my hon. Friend has pursued. Here again, however, "shorthand" is useful. I remind my hon. Friend of the statement made by my right hon. Friend on 22nd February when he endorsed the previous agreement between—[HON. MEMBERS: "Too long."]—are hon. Members opposite dissatisfied with this reply? I was saying that my right hon. Friend endorsed the previous agreement between the British Airports Authority and the Glasgow Corporation. This matter was also pursued at length the other night on the Adjournment and I hope that on reflection my hon. Friend and hon. Members opposite will be satisfied.
§ Mr. RankinOn a point of order. In view of the continued interruptions of hon. Members opposite and the difficulty of hearing what my hon. Friend has just said, may I be assured that he said nothing just now to qualify his main Answer?
§ Mr. SpeakerI must leave that to the hon. Gentleman to determine for himself.
I point out that today we have had fewer Questions and Answers than usual and that for every hon. Member who puts down a Question which is not reached it is to him a very important Question which is not reached. The trouble today has been both long supplementary questions and long answers. Mrs. Kerr—point of order.
§ Mrs. Anne KerrI would not wish to detain the House. I thought that I had made my point of order, which was that I could not hear in this part of the House. I think that our friend has turned up the sound equipment.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Lady made this point last night, also. I did not wish to appear discourteous just now, 888 but it helps if these points of order are raised after Question Time. We will look into the difficulty that the hon. Lady is complaining about. I am not sure that the acoustics of the place are perfect. At any rate, hon. Members can help by always speaking up.