I disagree. Whether public money is spent at home or abroad, I can't see that subsidising what is essentially a very niche hobby for the relatively well off can be justified. There are 20,000 non-professional PPLs in the country - I would be willing to bet that there are more clarinet players, or more scuba divers by far. Yet I don't hear about Oban scuba club being sponsored to the tune of millions, even though I would wager that diving will bring in more to the local economy than aviation does.
What general aviation actually needs is not subsidy, but a sympathetic hearing. It would be far cheaper to protect airfields from brownfield development than it would be to continually subsidise marginal ones.
abdg
I think you are missing Piperboys point.
Broadford is perfectly useable now for GA if a little expensive. The money only needs spent for a scheduled service, not for GA. But hey, if GA gets a nicer place to fly to it's a bonus for us. Unlike the millions spent on the Chinese generator.
D.O.