Civil Aviation Bill

I entirely agree, and that is precisely what is happening in the airline industry. It is acutely aware of its responsibilities in this respect, which is why I do not see it as the enemy of the environment. I note that my party's Front-Bench team has accepted the Government's decision not to go ahead with the third runway at Heathrow; indeed, the shadow Secretary of State said that in today's debate. I trust that that acceptance is based on the parliamentary arithmetic—on the fact that the Members who support the third runway are outnumbered by those who do not—rather than on agreement with the Government's arguments. The real reason why the Conservative party opposed the third runway when in opposition was votes. It was concerned about seats to the west of London, not the health of the UK economy and the airline industry on which we depend. It was seats that were uppermost in the Conservative party's mind when it chose to oppose the previous Government's support for Heathrow.