asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Aircraft Production, as representing the Minister of Civil Aviation, if he will take steps to secure that one of the conditions imposed on the new Commonwealth Routes Corporation shall be the provision of cheap return fares, to and from the Dominions, so that those close contacts which have been made during the emergency may be perpetuated in times of peace.

The fixing of fares on the Commonwealth routes will be a matter for agreement between the operators and the Governments of the United Kingdom and of the Commonwealth countries concerned. I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that His Majesty's Government are fully alive to the contribution which air communication can make towards maintaining close contact between the United Kingdom and other parts of the Commonwealth.

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the whole future of the British race depends on close relationship between the members of the British Empire and the Mother Country?

Certainly, and we look to air communications still further to strengthen the links between the different parts of the British Empire.