Dr Julian Lewis: May I bring my right hon. Friend's [Sir George Young's] attention to a point that concerns my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest, West (Desmond Swayne), and myself? The National Park Authority's briefing note on the issue says:

"NATS [National Air Traffic Services] have repeatedly claimed that the proposed airspace is not associated with ... expansion of services at any of the regional airports. This is contrary to their presentations to local authorities and the aviation industry".

NATS previously stated that

"one of the drivers for the airspace development is the anticipated growth at all the airports located in the South East region".

There seems to be a certain amount of dissembling going on.

[Sir George Young: I am glad that I gave my hon. Friend a slot, so that his intervention could land safely. It was well made, and underlines the point that the new flight path, once granted, could cope with a greater volume of traffic than the one on which the consultation paper was based.]