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Civil Aviation Bill

My Lords, of course my noble friend is absolutely right. This Government’s responsibility is to localities in which the airports are located. I must emphasise that we are dealing with Commons amendments at a fairly late stage of this Bill, and it is not for me to reopen or participate in a debate on airports policy at the present time. But to make the most obvious point, United Kingdom airports are not just in competition with each other; for Heathrow and the other London airports, the great challenges come from European airports. If we do not make adequate provision for flights from this country, the number of flights will not be reduced because aircraft will merely take off from Schiphol and other airports on the Continent without any enormous gain to our people.