Welsh government, empowered by the British government, to give Cardiff Airport unfair financial advantage over its English neighbour.

I read in the Daily Telegraph an article by Liam Fox, Conservative MP for North Somerset, bemoaning the lack of a third runway at Heathrow and the consequent loss of £billions to the British economy. 

It is a pity Mr Fox  does not pay more attention to his own constituency where, according to Bristol Airport bosses, 1500 jobs may be lost together with  £843million annually from the West of England economy as a result of the Conservative policy of appeasing the Welsh and Scottish governments.

The following letter, published in the Bristol Evening Post (14th September 2015), from Clive Lavelle of the English Democrats further explains the issues.

Injustices we've been trying to highlight.

I READ with interest the feature in the Bristol Post about the threat to Bristol Airport’s future from a proposed reduction in Airport Passenger Duty in Wales.

Robert Sinclair ( right), CEO at Bristol Airport was reported as calling for a “level playing field”. His sentiments were echoed in an editorial “We say” comment.

The comment states, “Giving the Welsh government the right to set Air Passenger Duty would see Cardiff Airport gain an unfair advantage over Bristol Airport.”

What Mr Sinclair and the editorial fail to grasp is that the “right” to set Airport Passenger Duty has been granted to the Welsh government by the British government (there is no English government).

Furthermore, the funding that enables the Welsh government to exercise this “right” comes directly from the English taxpayer, through the Barnett Formula; money filched from the English, by the British and handed over to the Scots and Welsh to give them these advantages.

The English Democrats have been trying to highlight these injustices for many years, through your columns and in other ways.

Clive Lavelle

Weston-super-Mare English Democrats