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Civil Aviation Bill

I am sorry that the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) will acquiesce with what his Whips require. He is missing a point. The clause will do nothing to protect the interests of his constituents—whether they live right under the flight path or gain from the economic advantages that Luton airport brings them. None of us wants the economy to be damaged, but equally I think that all of us, including Labour Members, want the airline, aviation and airport industries to consider the interests and lives of those who live under flight paths and near airports. I was interested to learn quite recently that 86 per cent. of all noise complaints about arriving aircraft relate to Heathrow or to Nottingham East Midlands airport. Heathrow is the country’s premier airport for passengers and freight. Nottingham East Midlands airport is not covered by clause 2 because it is not a designated airport under the Civil Aviation Act 1982. My constituents do not live—to use the words of clause 1—““in the vicinity of”” Nottingham East Midlands airport, which is not in Nottingham. Very few people from outside Britain know what the east midlands is like as a destination, and the airport is wholly within Leicestershire but happens to have a Derbyshire postcode, and I see the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) in his place. I also see the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) in his place, and he is a former director of the Manchester Airport Group, which wholly owns the airport. We have the absurd situation in which more and more people are getting more and more cross with the way in which Nottingham East Midlands behaves towards its neighbours, but they can do less and less about it. I thought that the new Civil Aviation Bill would give my constituents and the residents of greater Leicestershire some purchase on the decision making of an airport whose headquarters are in Manchester. That would have improved the quality of life of my constituents who live between 20 miles and 50 miles from the airport.