Airports (Amendment) Bill [HL]

Lord Clinton-Davis Excerpts

Friday 16th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Addington]

My Lords, when I first looked at this Bill, I thought that it contained an interesting power and I was surprised that we did not already have it. Having listened to the speeches made today, I think that I am still in the same place in that regard. The main point that has been raised is that we have one hub airport. Before the previous election, I spent a great deal of time delivering leaflets in Richmond to promote certain candidates, unfortunately, unsuccessfully as it turned out. Anybody who lives in that area is not keen on expansion of Heathrow, with the exception of a Member of this House who is shaking his head. I suspect that the noble Lord, Lord Soley, does not get much support when he raises this issue in his local pub, but I leave that on one side.

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

I, too, support Heathrow expansion.

[Lord Addington]

If we are entering anecdotal territory, I should say that as a former London Scottish player, I remember occasions when large planes flew over the pitch down in Richmond and the referee was reduced to using sign language. Therefore, I suggest that people have grounds for disagreeing with the noble Lord.

To return to the Bill, the idea that we should guarantee that our infrastructure works for the whole nation is not the most radical one we have ever heard in this House. The noble Lord, Lord Empey, referred to the infrastructure of different places. Northern Ireland has particular problems in that regard. It is incredibly difficult to build railways over the sea, to put it bluntly. Inverness may struggle in providing the necessary infrastructure and Aberdeen will have problems in this regard but Northern Ireland, particularly Belfast, has the worst problems to overcome. I hope that my noble friend the Minister will take this opportunity to reassure us in relation to where government thinking is on this matter. Everything has a cost but are we prepared to pay the cost of this provision? Everybody has a right to hear what that cost will be, and what we cannot expect to be provided. Who has been consulted on this matter? I am not sure whether the Air Transport Users Committee is still functioning.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Clinton-Davis]

I speak as a former Transport Commissioner in the EU. There are three Transport Ministers here; if I have left any out, I am very sorry about that. I am rather surprised that the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, criticised the noble Lord, Lord Empey, for being involved with self-interest. I thought that politics was largely about self-interest and I do not complain about that at all, although I am rather critical in some respects of this Bill. I speak also as a former president of BALPA; I am now its life president. The noble Lord, Lord Empey, who introduced this Bill, has strong links with BALPA through his son, who is a pilot with BA. I am glad to say that another Member of this House has now become the president of BALPA, namely my noble friend Lord Monks, a former general-secretary president of the TUC.

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Empey, on bringing this Bill before the House although, as I said, I am somewhat critical of its scope. This is an amending Bill to promote air traffic between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and there is no doubt that we should be discussing it. My own view is that the noble Lord has every right to focus on these problems. He has, however, skated over some of the issues which are highly relevant as far as we are concerned.

Aviation has to be viewed widely, and I am bound to say that the Bill is a little deficient in that respect. Its intention is of course to draw attention to the shortcomings of aviation to and from Northern Ireland, but in that respect the noble Lord is really being a little too narrow in his perspective. If he argues that regional airports should concentrate more on providing air services to Northern Ireland, it is incumbent on him to be more specific about where and by which companies that can be prescribed. They will, in the final analysis, have to agree with what is proposed. Providing that evidence is forthcoming, which is a moot point, I am certainly prepared to lend him my support, for what it is worth.

At present, I am more than a little confused about what Britain’s aviation policy is all about. Will all be revealed in a few weeks’ time? Will the forthcoming Civil Aviation Bill provide all the answers? I doubt it. Unhappily, all three major political parties are dodging the primary question. All have declared their opposition to the enlargement of Heathrow. In my submission, they are all horrendously wrong. If we were to start from scratch there would be a case for examining alternatives, but we are not starting from scratch. The proposal by the Mayor of London to locate an airport close to the east coast is barmy, and is of course based entirely upon political expediency. I doubt whether any of the other so-called solutions will be viable, but we shall see.

The fact is that Heathrow exists. Like all other airports it has its downside but, like other airports which are in being, Heathrow is fertile for expansion. Heathrow is world renowned but at present operates at near capacity, as we have heard. The essential issue, in my opinion, should not be how we can rule Heathrow out, but how we can expand it while making life more tolerable for those on the ground. Of course road and rail access has to be improved, and I am convinced that that will happen. Several other ameliorative solutions have to be undertaken as well, but the airport’s future capacity must be enlarged extensively. That is not an easy solution, but surely it is infinitely preferable to the other options under consideration.

The next generation of aircraft must, and I think will, be much quieter. Some progress in this direction is already occurring and will, I am sure, proceed apace in the future. Those on the ground—the thousands of people whose lives depend on the viability of the aviation industry and Heathrow, including the pilots and those working in airports and on aircraft—will accept no less. All this is perceived clearly by industry, airlines and the many whose future is intrinsically connected to Heathrow, including BALPA, many politicians and others. We should not be distracted by other concerns. As far as I am concerned, this Bill is somewhat deficient in this respect too. Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt suffer no such problems and are busily extending their services. As my noble friend Lord Soley pointed out, it is incumbent on us to ensure that, at Heathrow, we do no less.