Air Traffic Control Disruption
Debate between Keir Mather and Desmond Swayne(1Â week, 4Â days ago)
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Keir Mather
I thank the hon. Lady for her work representing her constituents who are employees of NATS. Let me use this opportunity to thank them again for the hard work that they do. However, she is right to say that resilience in those systems is not currently where we need it to be. We never want disruption of this kind to occur, but when it does, we need to use it as a productive lesson on how we can strengthen systems and ensure that when things do go wrong, they are restored as quickly as possible. I am confident that NATS responded to this incident in the shortest possible timeframe, while ensuring that safety was paramount for aircraft, both arriving and departing, but there are lessons to be learned about the contingency plans that need to be put in place, and we will endeavour to learn them.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Just how confident is the Minister that this was not a cyber-attack? How confident is he of the resilience of the system in the event of such an attack, and how confident is he in the willingness and ability of the Government to retaliate in the event of such an attack, as the best form of deterrence?
Keir Mather
As the right hon. Member knows, retaliation against cyber-attacks is not an appropriate matter to discuss at the Dispatch Box. However, he raises an important point about our overall resilience and ability to defend against cyber-attacks when they occur. While NATS has confirmed that this was a technical issue—it does not believe it to be cyber-related—I can reassure the right hon. Member that the CAA, NATS, DFT and transport providers work very closely together to defend against cyber-attacks from our adversaries, and any other threats that may emerge.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Keir Mather and Desmond Swayne(3Â months, 1Â week ago)
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Keir Mather
The Department is investing in multimillion-pound rail infrastructure improvements across the north, including in Manchester. The ÂŁ11 billion investment in the trans-Pennine route upgrade will electrify the 76-mile route between Manchester and York, increasing capacity and improving reliability with faster, cleaner and more frequent trains.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
I dare not think how many years of my constituents’ lives have been given over to points failures and signal failures, and the confusion that follows, on the line between Waterloo and the south coast. What can Ministers do about it?
Keir Mather
I thank the right hon. Member for his tireless advocacy on this important matter on behalf of his constituents. We need a railway that gets people where they need to go, on time and in an efficient manner. If he writes to me in more detail about the points failures that are affecting his constituents, I would be glad to pick that issue up with the Rail Minister.