THE Government should look at building airport runways in areas in need of regeneration and not in the South East, Tory transport spokesman Lord Hanningfield said in the Lords today.

Graham Dines

THE Government should look at building airport runways in areas in need of regeneration and not in the South East, Tory transport spokesman Lord Hanningfield said in the Lords today.

Lord Hanningfield, who is also leader of Essex county council, said: “There is now no real economic case and certainly no environmental case for additional runways in the South East at Stansted or at Heathrow. Surely the Government should really assess the whole need for airport runways in the UK and perhaps put them in areas that need more regeneration.”

Lord Bassam of Brighton, replying for the Government said: “The aviation industry brings net benefits to the United Kingdom. All of the projections over the longer term show that there will be continued growth. I wonder where the Conservative party's incoherent policy on aviation and the South East is actually going to lead to. Will it lead eventually to the melt down of the aviation sector if at some time in the future they come into Government?”