Not interested in the politics but this is precisely why I feel Manchester "could" and "should" have argued their case more vehemently.
You could and should argue as loud as you like, but that does not alter the fact that there were and are many reasons why Stansted was and is not the solution to future capacity issues. There have been so many cogent and informative posts on this forum arguing that.
If MAG were putting all their eggs into the basket of buying Stansted just for this one expectation, I'd be very surprised. (And sorry for the confused metaphor, but you know what I mean).