Draft Air Traffic Management (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Brendan O'Hara Excerpts

Monday 18th February 2019 General Committees

[Brendan O'Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

I will detain the Committee for even less time than the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East, who was absolutely right when he said that we live in hope—indeed, we expect—that the UK will not leave the European Union without a deal. We have to be prepared, however, for that catastrophic eventuality, so we too will not oppose the statutory instrument.

The consequences for the UK’s aviation industry of a no-deal exit from the European Union are unthinkable. I fully support what the hon. Gentleman said to the Minister about ensuring that no deal is taken off the table, even at this late stage, because it would have catastrophic consequences for the aviation industry and beyond.

I have looked through the explanatory memorandum released by the Government, and I have a couple of questions for the Minister. I appreciate that the Government have had regular engagement, but from what I can see they have not consulted specific stakeholders other than the CAA. Why is that the case? Are they satisfied that they have taken every precaution and spoken to every stakeholder in depth and at length in putting the SI together?

When was the statutory instrument published in draft form on the legislation.gov.uk website? Does the Minister know how many people viewed it? What changes, if any, were made to it based on the feedback that was received?