Sir Howard's’ brief was not to decide on whether there is a need for additional runways in southeast England and if so, where; but rather to decide on a policy for the entire country. In other words, if there really is an absolute need for a ‘national hub airport’, where should it be with regard to the nation as a whole, not just the bit down in the bottom right hand corner.
the management (MAG) may be forgiven for wondering if they might have spent a little more time and effort tub thumping the case for the ‘home’ airport at Manchester, which already has two runways, oodles of spare capacity and the sort of traffic mix that many other airport operators can only dream of, and that of East Midlands airport, which is one of the most significant for cargo in the entire country but which barely rated a mention in MAG’s submission.
Source
The Davies Commission?s Interim Report on UK airports: the big loser remains UK competitiveness | CAPA - Centre for Aviation
It appears there are others who share my Tub Thumping attitude North West ...!