Perhaps he didn’t. It is not for government to bail out councils who bail out airports.
taxpayer-funded bail-out of four councils across the country, including two Tory-run authorities (£4.8m to Peterborough and £3.9m to Bexley), one LibDem-run council (£6.8m to Eastbourne) and a whopping £35m to the Labour-run Luton Council.