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Civil Aviation Bill

My Lords, I want to ask my noble friend a question in relation to a comment that he made in Committee. I believe he said that these changes, if adopted, would not come in before 2012. He went on to say that,"““the intention behind the Bill is to create the necessary flexibility to take account of new technology and changes to the position adopted by people in relation to night flying””.—[Official Report, 5/12/05; col. GC 90.]" I think that other noble Lords have made similar comments. There is grave suspicion about this. Why do we need to bring in legislation if it is not needed for six years? There is grave suspicion that ““flexibility”” means more flights, and I urge my noble friend to think again about this. Frankly, he could bring in regulations or even another Bill in five or six years’ time, when there may be a lot more understanding of the effect of noise on people. I think that it is very premature to do this now.