In the midst of a routine question-and-answer period in the House of Commons one day last, week, Transport Minister Harold Watkinson made a humiliating announcement: to keep the British Overseas Airways Corp. competitive with U.S. and other foreign airlines, Her Majesty's government had agreed to let the state-owned airline order 15 U.S.-made Boeing 707 jet airliners for $98 million.
The news, though expected (TIME, Sept. 24), set off an outcry in the press. The Laborite Daily Herald found "experts" who called it an "amazing and stupid decision." Other papers sadly agreed that the decision was inevitable, since Britain has 'ho comparable...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
