To be fair, Fairdealfrank, I have not seen any contributor on PPRuNe argue that those representing the interests of MAN should have argued for additional runway(s) here or for air services to be forcibly relocated from London to this airport. Such issues never arose and I doubt that any here would seriously advocate them.
What thread contributors have advocated is greater use of the carrot (not use of the stick). Measures such as the rewriting of restrictive bilaterals which 'force' airlines to avoid considering MAN, the introduction of US departure pre-clearance at MAN, and a rethink of the APD regime which disadvantages MAN (and the UK generally) in favour of overseas competitors such as DUB, MXP, BRU and AMS. I'm sure many here would have appreciated some visible lobbying in favour of measures such as these by MAG.
Having said all that, I don't think that any here have argued against the provision of additional runway capacity in the SE which is sorely needed. Whether or not that is ultimately provided is an issue for the politicians, but that is a different debate altogether. What we are keen to see up here is the removal of barriers which inhibit MAN's innate growth potential within its own market, and hence its ability to contribute fully to the national capacity solution. Unfortunately, from the outside, it was difficult to perceive any significant lobbying in favour of such measures by MAG and other interested parties which could have influenced the debate.