Manufacturing Industry

UK MPs rebel against NATS privatisation plans

Airline Industry Information, Dec 22, 1999

The decision by the UK Labour government to privatise the National Air Transport System (NATS) became more complicated on 20 December after 50 of the ruling party`s MPs signed a rebel amendment opposing legislation approving the move.

The rebel amendment, which was voted upon on the evening of 20 December, claimed that privatisation of NATS could `jeopardise safety standards.` But this was denied by John Prescott, the Transport Minister, who maintains that the claim has `not been proven` and reassured parliament during the second reading debate about the Transport Bill that `this will not be a rushed `sale without safeguards` of the kind we used to see from the Tory Party.`

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said that the party would back the break-away Labour MPs and vote against the Transport Bill receiving a second reading. However, the rebel amendment was eventually defeated in parliament by 321 votes to 33, while the second reading of the Transport Bill was approved by 358 to 163.

Objections to the sale of NATS are not just restricted to safety concerns, with some MPs worried that privatisation could affect the safety of the nation during a military emergency if the government needed to take control of the airspace above Britain. It is also feared that the current goodwill between military and civil aircraft might be lost after privatisation.

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