We are very lucky to have such easy access to a major international airport in Manchester. It is regularly voted the world’s most popular airport with the travelling public and businesses in the north of England know the economic significance of fast and easy international connectivity. It is a massive engine for growth. As we look to re-balance the economy away from the overheated South East the Government has also agreed that there should be a massive £30-40 billion investment in high speed rail, linking London and Birmingham and ultimately coming on to Manchester and Leeds. Some people have reservations about the cost or the route; in my view it’s essential that there should be a stop to the south of Manchester (perhaps at Manchester Airport) and it would be sensible for a spur to link into Heathrow, obviating the need for more domestic flights. These reservations aside, it is an impressive commitment to stimulating the economy in the North and Midlands. How strange then with the Government so strongly opposed to a third runway at Heathrow, we have speculation that they might throw their weight behind a completely new airport in the Thames Estuary. Many people think that the estimated cost of £50 billion would be far higher in practice and could only be funded if Heathrow were to be closed and the site re-developed. It is essential to the future of Britain’s economy that we should have a functioning aviation hub to allow us to compete in the world and serve new markets in China, India and Brazil. A new aviation hub in the Thames Estuary may make perfect sense for London but I wonder whether those who favour it have given any real thought to the British regions. It seems to me that moving Britain’s international air transport hub to ‘Boris Island’ would be a massive transfer of Britain’s economic centre of gravity to the east of London. The area will receive a lot of coverage in this Olympic year but these are decisions affecting our entire economy, and getting it right may be more like a marathon, than a sprint.