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Civil Aviation Bill

Not only was I not seeming to make that case, but I was not making it. I am asking the Government to get a grip and to understand the damage that, on the face of it, a beneficial operation could wittingly or unwittingly have on those who have least control over the operation. Nottingham East Midlands airport might have much to recommend it. It sells itself as the freight hub of the east midlands and as a good place to do business from which freight carriers can distribute goods throughout England within four hours of their being landed. That is fine, and we are told how wonderful it will be that new jobs will be created in the Castle Donington area. However, we have no evidence of those jobs; they are simply assertions. Furthermore, as a direct consequence of an increase in traffic aeroplanes will, over the next decade, land once every 90 seconds between 11 pm and 7 am—that is the aim and the way in which the airport is being sold—but we are never told that, because the airport is not designated under the 1982 Act, the Government and the Secretary of State can do nothing about it. The Bill does not address that point and, despite their warm words about wanting to be green, Ministers will do nothing to control aircraft movements. If people think that the Government are going to do something about that, they are sadly wrong because they want to have ““may”” instead of ““shall””, and I think that the constituents of the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) will suffer as much as my constituents do. The only hope that my constituents who are affected by a non-designated airport have is that the management of the airport group, based in Manchester, would at least be compelled to enter into a regime to control the noise and air pollution aspects of the business.