§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I have it in command from Her Majesty the Queen to acquaint the House that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Civil Aviation Bill, has consented to place her interest, so far as it is concerned on behalf of the Crown, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 3a.—(Lord Berwick.)
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, may I take this opportunity of thanking the noble Lord for his co-operation on this Bill—except, perhaps, over Clause 7—while it has been through its stages in this House? Although this is a small Bill, it is a very important one to aviation, and I believe that it is now in a better form than when it started its first stage here.
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I should like to echo what my noble friend has said in both respects; that is, to thank the noble Lord for the courtesy he has extended to this side of the House during the passage of this Bill, and to add that I personally think that, in certain respects it has been improved. I regretted that I was not able to take part in the Report stage yesterday as I should have liked to reinforce the arguments of my noble friend on Clause 7, under which the four aerodromes of the British Airports Authority are specifically excluded, in the terms of this measure, from grant. I was glad to note from the noble Lord's reply that the Government do not exclude further consideration of this matter in another place, and I hope that my friends and colleagues there will press the Government hard on this particular point. With that, I would welcome this Bill.
§ LORD BESWICKMy Lords, I much appreciate what both noble Earls have said. I had, in fact, a note, to which I proposed to refer at a later stage, in which I was going to express my own appreciation of the contribution made by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull. As the noble Earl, Lord Jellicoe, said, this Bill has been improved during the course of our consideration, and a great deal of the credit for this must go to the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, who made his contribution, very often, in somewhat difficult circumstances as he was left holding the fort alone. However, the Bill is better for the consideration which has been given it, and I hope that it will now be given a Third Reading.
§ On Question, Bill read 3a: an Amendment (privilege) made; Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.