Oral Answers to Questions

Stuart C McDonald Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

8. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the aviation industry after the UK leaves the EU.

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

19. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the aviation industry after the UK leaves the EU.

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

23. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the future of the aviation industry after the UK leaves the EU.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stuart C. McDonald]

A key requirement in any deal with the US may well be that UK airlines are required to be UK majority owned, yet very few would be able to meet that standard. What are the realistic chances of the US ditching that long-standing policy for the sake of the UK?

[Chris Grayling]

Clearly, airline ownership is more complex as part of the European Union than it was in the pre-EU days, but nobody is seriously suggesting that we are not going to continue with the same kind of transatlantic partnerships we have at the moment. British Airways and American Airlines, for example, operate in lockstep with each other. We will progress in due time towards a sensible agreement that continues the extremely prosperous, important and successful transatlantic aviation routes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Joseph Johnson]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Of course, that matter is close to my heart and I will be paying extraordinary attention to it in the coming months.

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

T8. Will the Minister tell us what recent research the Department has undertaken on whether shared space schemes without kerbs or controlled crossings are safe for people with vision impairments?

[Ms Ghani]

We have been reviewing our accessibility plan within the Department and will be reviewing how we deal with shared spaces. The hon. Gentleman knows that I used to chair the all-party group on eye health and visual impairment, which has huge concerns about shared spaces. We will be making a statement on this shortly. We want to make sure that all of our spaces, especially those around transport infrastructure, are accessible for people with all disabilities.