Senior Tory admits all Europe flights may stop from day one of Brexit – taken from a Metro Report

by danielbarker on 12 October, 2017

A ‘bad-tempered’ Brexit could lead to all flights between Britain and Europe being grounded, Philip Hammond (Chancellor of the Exchequer) admitted yesterday.

Should talks break down, with one or both sides refusing to co-operate, it is conceivable that air traffic will cease from day one, the Chancellor said.

The British Airline Pilots’ Association trade union confirmed planes will not be able to legally land unless a new set of rules can be agreed.

A spokesman told Metro: ‘The entire UK aviation sector which employs nearly a million people and carries more than 250 million passengers per annum would be devastated by a Brexit ‘no deal’. Unlike most other sectors there are no World Trade Organisation or any other rules to fall back on for aviation.

‘UK airlines could find they have to stop flying – it’s that serious! And that would impact passengers long before March 2019 because airlines couldn’t sell advance tickets and frankly, would passengers risk buying them?’

Mr Hammond said….’We have to consider the possibility of a bad-tempered breakdown in the talks where we have no co-operation.’

There are no rules to fall back on because flights between EU nations and the rest of the world are governed by a mass of treaties drawn up between the countries concerned. Theresa May said yesterday government departments were getting an extra £250 million this year to help them plan for Brexit, including a no-deal outcome.
‘Where money needs to be spent it will be spent’ she told the Commons during prime minister’s questions. ‘In some cases departments will need to spend money before the relevant legislation has gone through.’ (Editors’ note: so much for Brexit saving us money! This makes Boris’ assertion that we will have more money to spend on the NHS even more laughable.)

But….Mr Hammond appeared to contradict her (Theresa)…He told former Brexit minister David Jones: ‘Every pound we spend on contingent preparations for a hard customs border is a pound we can’t spend on the NHS, social care, education or deficit reduction.’ (Editors’ note: I couldn’t agree more!)

Content published and promoted by Roy Sheward on behalf of Dan Barker (Liberal Democrats) all at 144 Redhouse Lane, Walsall, WS5 0DB

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