§ 31. Mr. Elystan Morganasked the Lord President of the Council if he will move to re-constitute the Select Committee on Science and Technology and, subject to the approval of the House of Commons, invite it to study the Concorde project with a view to advising whether it should be continued or abandoned.
§ Mr. WhitelawOn the first part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the Green Paper published 218 last week and to my reply to the hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Marquand). The answer to the second part of the Question is No, Sir.
§ Mr. MorganDoes the Lord President not agree that, since development costs of this aircraft have escalated to a point over five times beyond the estimate of 1962, and since there are a variety of problems, ranging from unremunerative payload to the prospect of airports in the United States being closed to Concorde, it is vital that this whole project should be minutely scrutinised by an all-party body of this House?
§ Mr. WhitelawIt is very important, I think, that I do not get involved in the various policy discussions about the Concorde in answer to this question. Clearly, however, the Select Committee on Science and Technology, when reconstituted, must decide what it inquires into, as, of course, must the Select Committee on Expenditure decide. These are basically matters for the Committees and not for me.