Monday 14th May 2012

(12 years, 7 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Earl Attlee Portrait Earl Attlee
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My Lords, because we have to get the policy right. Successive Governments have struggled to develop an enduring policy that will outlast changes of government. We have to get it right and we are going to do it properly, but we will announce our aviation policy framework next spring.

Lord Bradshaw Portrait Lord Bradshaw
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Does the Minister agree that there is a lot of spare capacity at Gatwick, Stansted and Birmingham, which is soon to have a runway extension, and that if these resources were used intelligently and properly, we would have sufficient airport capacity? We need to improve surface access to those airports.

Earl Attlee Portrait Earl Attlee
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My noble friend makes a very good point. That is exactly why we have called for evidence on hub connectivity.