§ 38. Mrs. Shirley Williamsasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will delay a decision on the proposals for expanding Luton Airport now before him until the Roskill Commission has reported.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is not the first time this has happened. We can come back to the Question at half-past three.
§ Later—
§ Mr. SpeakerMrs. Shirley Williams.
§ Mr. William HamiltonOn a point of order. What can you do, Mr. Speaker, to protect the interests of the House from the very grave dereliction of duty by a Minister in the Government, a dynamic, junior, rising Minister who, at the first opportunity, absents himself from questioning on a very important Question, No. 38, for when it was asked he was not in his seat? Would it be in order 485 for that Question to be asked now and for me to move a reduction in that Minister's salary?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe answer to the second part of that question is "No". The answer to the first part is that I am endeavouring to give the hon. Lady the Member for Hitchin (Mrs. Shirley Williams) a chance now to put the Question, which is according to common practice when a Minister is late.
§ Mrs. WilliamsQuestion No. 38.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. Paul Channon)May I, on my first appearance at the Box, apologise humbly to the House for my failure to be here to answer the Question put by the hon. Lady the Member for Hitchin (Mrs. Shirley Williams)? The failure was inexcusable and I assure the House that it will not happen again.
The answer to the hon. Lady's Question is: No, Sir. These proposals are only for minor works which are said to be urgently needed.
§ Mr. William HamiltonYou should not have come!
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsMay I say, "Better late than never". I am not clear whether it was worth the Minister's coming. As three of the four sites proposed by the Roskill Commission would be close to Luton Airport, why are minor works worth undertaking in this situation?
§ Mr. ChannonIf major proposals were under consideration, they would clearly have to be looked at in view of this situation, but the current proposals are for the most minor developments, such as car parking space and additional standing space for aircraft and additional office space, which are all urgently needed for the convenience of people using the airport now.