Originally Posted by
Barling Magna
Why shouldn't Manchester taxpayers own an airport in Essex? Why do all our airports have to be owned by Spaniards and Canadians ...? Do you have a problem with public ownership?
To answer those questions in turn.
Manchester taxpayers shouldn’t own an airport in Essex for the simple reason that it’s in Essex rather than Manchester. The operative word in Local Authorities is ‘Local’; councils in Greater Manchester exist to provide a variety of services in Greater Manchester. Not Essex.
While I would prefer, for emotional reasons as much as anything else, that our airports have British owners, I don’t have a problem with foreign ownership or control of our airports provided that we have equal access to ownership of foreign infrastructure assets. That’s clearly not the case in Spain for example.
I don’t have any ideological problem with public ownership, although I would make the point that the public sector doesn’t have a particularly good track record in running businesses. What I do have a problem with is local authorities, who should be looking after parks, libraries and emptying the bins, expanding their activities into the business world. Of course you can make the argument that it generates extra income that can be invested in public services, but what happens if the business struggles or fails? Who picks up the tab? The point has already been made that MAG operated Humberside at a modest profit for a number of years but then sold it at a cracking loss. Was that really a good deal for the taxpayers of Greater Manchester? Or were MAG more driven by ambition and hubris than a commitment to public service?