The port currently operates at just 50% of its 100 million ton annual handling capacity.

CNN: Is Danube Romania's 'blue motorway' to prosperity?

The commission acknowledges that Linate, with its single runway handling 14.3m passengers last year, is operating close to full capacity.

ECONOMIST: Italian airports

The debate, which Mr Boyd attended in his capacity as the executive's constitutional and legal adviser, follows the publication of two reports into the handling of the 1998 Chhokar murder case.

BBC: Chhokar graphic

The government's Disposal Services Authority, which is handling the sale, wants to award at least one of the frigates to a UK ship recycler to determine the capacity of the UK's industry in the field.

BBC: Four Royal Navy frigates in Portsmouth Harbour for sale