Airline Competition Policy

HC Deb 30 July 1984 vol 65 c32

4.4 pm

Mr. John Prescott (Kingston upon Hull, East)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the report of the Civil Aviation Authority on airline competition policy. The matter is specific as it concerns the damage that is being done to our civil aviation industry and airport operations and the national and international concern about route distribution. That damage and concern have been caused by the Government's refusal to make their position clear. The matter specifically concerns the intense and damaging speculation about the Government's intentions, including unprecedented and highly political damaging attacks which the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority has made on the chairman of British Airways, a public sector industry.

The matter is important because considerable damage is being caused to the British aviation industry by the Government's dithering and refusal to make a statement on the report with major implications involving thousands of redundancies and the restructuring of flight movements at our airports — before the decisions are made and impelemented in summer, as the Secretary of State has said this afternoon. A civil war of vested interests is occurring between different British airlines and different British airports, benefiting no one except the foreign airlines and the advertising revenues of national newspapers.

British aviation is one of our most successful industries and is now racked with uncertainty and financial doubts among and about the operators arising directly from the Government's prevarication. The CAA report proposes fundamental changes to the industry's structure. It is essential, in the interests of the industry and of the country, that there should be a debate on this matter as a matter of urgency. I therefore urge you, Mr. Speaker, to agree that this is a matter that should have precedence today so that Parliament can debate the Government's intentions.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely, the report of the Civil Aviation Authority on airline competition policy. I have listened carefully to what the hon. Member has said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10 and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.