HL Deb 17 April 1967 vol 282 cc5-8

2.44 p.m.

LORD MERRIVALE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to be in a position to announce the effect that the restrictions, recently announced by the Spanish Government, will have on civilian air traffic to and from Gibraltar; and what measures, if need be, will be taken to guarantee the right of our airlines to land at and take off from Gibraltar Airfield.]

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I regret that I cannot yet inform the noble Lord when it will be possible to make the further statement that I promised on April 13. We are urgently considering all aspects of the latest Spanish action and the consequential measures we need to take.

LORD MERRIVALE

My Lords, would the noble Lord not agree that this country has a very strong case to put before the I.C.A.O.? Also, is it not a fact that, according to the Convention, any ban by the Spanish Government must not unnecessarily or unreasonably disrupt communications? Therefore, is it not a fact that any ban would have to provide for some air corridor?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I quite agree with the noble Lord that we should have an extremely strong case if we took this matter to the I.C.A.O. The actual words of Article 9 of the Convention call attention to the fact that any zone must be of—and I quote: reasonable extent and location so as not to interfere unnecessarily with air navigation. That, obviously, would give us a very good case; but it is still a matter for decision as to whether our course of action, or intention to uphold our right, would be better pursued with the I.C.A.O. or elsewhere.

LORD MANCROFT

My Lords, is it not clear that, whatever may be the effect of the present inhibitions instilled by the Spanish Government, it is their ultimate intention to impose complete interference with all civil communications with Gibraltar; and would it not be safer for Her Majesty's Government to base their plans on that assumption?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I know of no indications to suggest that we are basing our plans on any other assumption.

LORD ROWLEY

My Lords, in view of the threat to air safety, to which reference was made last week, may I ask my noble friend whether Her Majesty's Government have now received the charts which are so vital in connection with this problem?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I quite agree with my noble friend. It is a fact that we thought it was not possible to come to any further conclusion until we had seen the charts on which the zones were actually marked. We have now received these charts. The de-limitation of the zones ends at the point at which they reach the Spanish coast. The lines are not extended over the waters of the bay, and, of course, it is precisely the extent of our waters that is the matter of dispute. We are therefore not very much further advanced by having the charts to which I referred last Thursday.

LORD MERRIVALE

My Lords, could the noble Lord confirm one point in a statement made by a senior Royal Air Force officer recently in Gibraltar? His statement was to the effect that, as there are a large number of navigational aids on the Rock which aircraft can use to cross-check their equipment, any violation of Spanish territory could only possibly occur if there were an unlikely combination of bad weather, pilot error and last-minute technical failures on the ground as well as in the aircraft, under present arrangements.

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I can conceive that there might be a combination of circumstances of trouble with aircraft and bad weather conditions under which some violation of air space might well take place. This is possible in any part of the world, and I should have thought that any civilised country would accept this kind of contingency. But otherwise, in ordinary operation, we maintain that there has been no deliberate violation of Spanish air space.

LORD OGMORE

My Lords, is the noble Lord quite right? It has been said that when there is an easterly wind blowing it is dangerous for a civil airliner to try to get in on the airstrip at Gibraltar. If this is so, does it not put a completely different complexion on the Spanish attempt to make a zone, even though that zone does not extend into the sea?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, there are difficulties in getting into this airstrip in Gibraltar. As I said before, it was my job at one time to go in there two or three times a week. It is not the most simple of operations, but it can be done quite safely and without violating any Spanish territory. We propose to continue to carry out operations so far as both civil airlines and military aircraft are concerned.

LORD AILWYN

My Lords, may an ignoramus ask what those queer letters, "I.C.A.O." refer to?

LORD BESWICK

International Civil Aviation Organisation.