Doncaster’s Labour MPs call on Liz Truss to “step up” following airport closure

MPs Ed Miliband and Rosie Winterton have called for Liz Truss to “step up” to protect Doncaster Sheffield Airport after the Peel Group announced it would be ceasing operations yesterday.

They released the following statement: “The decision from Peel to close Doncaster Airport is a disaster.

“The Prime Minister gave a commitment in Parliament to save the airport so she needs to step up.

“The government has the power to act. It must step up to force Peel to sell and guarantee that the Secretary of State for Transport will take over the running of the airport until an operator can be found.”

And then continued: “The Council should urgently consider a compulsory purchase order but it could take at least a year to complete, in which time DSA would have closed, so we need action now from government.

“We cannot allow a vital local and regional asset like the airport to be lost.

“We will fight for the employees of the airport and our City every step of the way. We are urgently writing to the Secretary of State for Transport to argue the case.”

PM Liz Truss previously vowed to protect the airport in her first Prime Minister’s Questions, stating that she had asked transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan “to make sure we do protect this airport and we protect that vital infrastructure and connectivity that helps our economy grow”.