Airport Expansion: East Anglia
Debate between Gavin Shuker and Lord Haselhurst(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Sir Alan Haselhurst
I agree with my hon. Friend. Stansted would, of course, see itself as already being that engine of growth. Its presence is undoubtedly a major factor in the investment decisions being made by some very important businesses.
Mr Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)
To the right hon. Gentleman’s relief, I do not intend to speak about Luton airport, which is based in my constituency. I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins)—my good friend—will talk about it later. To underline the point, in the analysis on east-west rail, one of the most interesting growth pairs between two different places over the next 15 years will be between Luton and Essex. East-west applies both on the eastern and western sides of the region.
Sir Alan Haselhurst
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I think there is something called “the golden triangle,” and I certainly do not reject the idea of the east-west connections in any way, but we do not have the money to do everything. I concentrate on this line as a priority, simply because, at the moment, it is the main link between the city and the airport and it has had so much neglect over these past years.