§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether Her Majesty's Government will apply for the coupons offered in the recently announced provisional settlement of the United States anti-trust class action which arose out of the collapse of Laker Airways.
§ Mr. RidleyNo. As my right hon. and learned Friend the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry explained to the House on 11 December, the Government's view is that the unilateral application of United States' anti-trust law to air services operated under the United Kingdom-US Air Services Agreement (Bermuda 2) is not compatible with the United Kingdom's 519W rights under the agreement and is damaging to the trading interests of the United Kingdom. Since the Government therefore consider that the bringing of the class action is incompatible with our rights under Bermuda 2, there can be no question of Government Departments benefiting from the settlement.