Air Traffic Control Disruption Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Transport
John McDonnell
Main Page: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)Department Debates - View all John McDonnell's debates with the Department for Transport
Air Traffic Control Disruption
John McDonnell Excerpts(1Â week, 5Â days ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I have noted the Minister’s proactive commitment to a ministerial statement.
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his statement. NATS used to be in my constituency and then moved down to Swanwick. Of course, with Heathrow in my constituency, I receive—as I mentioned yesterday—a large amount of correspondence from a whole range of other MPs’ constituents, who think I am responsible for Heathrow airport.
John McDonnell
It is not a laughing matter—I am sorry for interrupting the flow of the discussion.
It would be useful if the review looked at NATS’s long-term investment plans, particularly since its partial privatisation in 2001, which I opposed.
I thank the Minister for meeting Unite this morning and thanking the workers, who have worked so hard. From my experience, when things go wrong at NATS, the Public and Commercial Services Union members—the technical members—scramble and work incredibly hard to put them right. I hope that we can thank them as well. The Opposition spokesperson never made any reference to the workers themselves. They have worked incredibly hard and, as the Minister said, some of them have experienced horrendous abuse. We should congratulate them and support them in their work.