Airports Capacity

Debate between Lord McLoughlin and Thérèse Coffey

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I thought the hon. Gentleman, in quoting various announcements, was—

[The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

It was a holding position.

[Mr McLoughlin]

As my hon. Friend says, he was in a holding position, because one thing he did not tell us was which scheme, or indeed which airport, he supports. He failed to do that. As I have said, it is right that this is a very big issue, and it has dogged Governments for many years. We will take a decision, but we want to do some further work on some of the environmental impacts, bearing in mind some of the recent developments. Bearing in mind the report published on 26 November by the Environmental Audit Committee, which has just looked into this issue, saying that we should take a fresh look at certain issues, I would have thought that the House accepted that that is what we will do before we come to a decision in the summer.