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Save Our Airports: From Nice But Dim Tories
The unfashionably out of step, dare I say nice but dim Tory MP for Altrincham and Sale West Graham Brady has given vent to his ideas on high flying capitalism in The Spectator. Iain Dale thinks dear Graham's analysis is brilliant. But it isn't.
The people of Manchester own an airport business worth at least £3 Billion. Ten years ago it wasn't as far as I can recall worth £1 Billion. It provides a good harvest of jobs - directly and indirectly - and is not in the same ownership as competing regional airports.
It has invested most of its profits in capacity building towards even more profit.
It has nonetheless provided a steady stream of cash to Manchester (55%) and each of the nine other local authorities (5% each). And it has also invested heavily in the region's arts, culture, sport and good causes.
Selling the airport or its holdings is not a good idea. Selling it to John Whittaker the car-obsessed boss of out-of-town shopping developer Peel Holdings is even more of a bad idea and he is already making his bids through the papers.
Keep the airport. And get back the buses and the railways too!
Weather in Padstow = warm but somethingly overcast.
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more, Brady happens to be my local MP and I think nice but dim sums him up fairly well.
His argument centres on the money a sale to Whittaker would bring in and the improvements that could be made to the tram system as a result.
However, the money would almost certainly be used for tax cuts which in the long run would be a negative thing for Greater Manchester as a whole.
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