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Civil Aviation Bill

Unless I am mistaken—I am happy to explain if it is not the case—the Government can examine the position at the airports and make decisions about the number of flights and so on. Such decisions would still have to be part of a consultative procedure. Who knows what the Secretary of State at the time will conclude, taking account of the prevailing factors such as numbers of flights, benefits to the economy, social and environmental consequences and so on, and what happens between now and then. Those important factors would have to be considered. Someone else may be doing my job by then, and we must wait and see.