Martin Vickers
Main Page: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)Department Debates - View all Martin Vickers's debates with the Department for Transport
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Hammond
The hon. Gentleman says that the airports in the south of England are closed, but as of a few minutes ago, when I came into the Chamber, that was not my information. My information was that Gatwick was closed, but Heathrow was operating, albeit with delays. The problem, as the hon. Gentleman knows, is that airports have to operate with a primary focus on safety, and when heavy snow is falling it is not possible to operate the runways safely. I gave the figures earlier for the amount of clearance that occurred at Gatwick yesterday. Vast amounts of snow were moved off the runways and taxiways, but the airport is still not able to operate. If there is any measure that could or should have been taken over the past few days that would have kept Gatwick airport open, that is what we need to focus on, but even Geneva airport has been closed this week.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
All train services into my constituency are currently cancelled. Bearing in mind that the same routes serve the strategically important port of Immingham, through which much of the country’s coal is imported for power stations, can the Secretary of State assure me that improvements will be made to the services?
Mr Hammond
I cannot give my hon. Friend any immediate assurance that improvements will be possible on that line. I understand that the problem in that case is drifting snow, and it will take some time to clear the line and reopen it. I can tell him and the House that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has told me that he is confident that coal supplies are adequate and that we need see no interruptions to power supplies as a result of the present cold snap.