Jim Shannon
Main Page: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)Department Debates - View all Jim Shannon's debates with the Department for Transport
(5 days, 22 hours ago)
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Mike Kane
The right hon. Member, who raised this with me while I was in opposition and has now done so while I am in government, is a doughty champion for this campaign. Manston needs to come forward with its plans, which will be subject to a development consent order, and we will then make a judgment about what is in our best interests.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister very much for his answer. There are lots of training and employment opportunities for young people in careers as cabin crew and pilots, or indeed in aerospace and engineering—for example, at Spirit AeroSystems in Belfast—so what can be done, working alongside the Education Minister, to ensure that those opportunities are made apparent in schools to all the young people who will be the future of our country?
Mike Kane
It gives me great pleasure to wish the hon. Member many happy returns on his 70th birthday earlier this week. I think he is actually asking to be retrained in aviation skills. [Laughter.]
Northern Ireland is a great place for the aerospace industry with its three great airports—the two in Belfast and City of Derry/Londonderry—which gives people a lot of skills. There is no limit to what people can achieve by getting into this industry in Northern Ireland and travelling the world over practising their skills.
Lilian Greenwood
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise concerns. Obviously, enforcement of the rules on using cycles and e-cycles is a matter for the police, but I would be very happy to meet her to discuss the issue.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
This week the Government have given a commitment to providing extra EV charging units right across this United Kingdom, so may I ask the Minister a very helpful question? What discussions has she had with the Northern Ireland Assembly in relation to expanding EV charging infrastructure in the devolved nations? How can we help Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to catch up?
Lilian Greenwood
As a departmental team, we have regular meetings with our colleagues across the devolved Governments, including on issues of how to extend EV charging, and I would be very happy to pick that up with the hon. Gentleman further.