Doncaster Sheffield Airport

Debate between Mark Eastwood and Alexander Stafford

Monday 24th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alexander Stafford]

I am talking about the current Mayor. Of course, I have read the plan. We can all see where the airport fits into it, but that is not how it links together. It is too piecemeal. We may disagree on whether that plan is correct—I disagree with it—but it is too piecemeal. We need an overarching vision for how that works together with the industrial zones and the freeport.

I commend once again my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley on his cross-party way of working. He is a far nicer gentleman than me when it comes to working cross-party.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

My hon. Friend mentions cross-party working. That is similar to what my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) is trying to achieve, working across South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire on the Penistone line—another transport-related project—and all the MPs and the Mayors are fully in agreement on it. Does he agree that it is important that we try to work together on a cross-party basis?

[Alexander Stafford]

Of course, I agree. It is incredibly important that we work cross-party. That is why I have been saddened by some of the debate as well as by the urgent question earlier. We are not working cross-party. There are too many red herrings being thrown about—we have heard about civil contingencies and this law and this stuff—without working together. We need to unite to pull all those levers to save our airports. We should look at all options, including compulsory purchase if necessary. We have dealt with the situation before in Tees Valley, where we beat Peel. The only difference now is that we have a different Mayor in charge. That is the only conclusion that I can come to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Eastwood and Alexander Stafford

Tuesday 6th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Government’s levelling- up agenda.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Government’s levelling- up agenda.