Following the announcement that the Competition Commission has reiterated its determination to force BAA to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports, Liberal Democrat Euro MP Andrew Duff said:

"In the light of the decision of the Competition Commission to force BAA to sell Stansted, the planning application for the second runway must now be withdrawn and the public enquiry scrapped.

It would be a colossal waste of public money to proceed to try to expand the size of the airport when its very ownership is uncertain - to say nothing of the impact of the climate crisis and economic slump on the future of the aviation sector.

The interest of the East of England is in having in Stansted a clean, efficient and quiet airport with regular and reliable links into the international hubs on mainland Europe. The airport, airlines, passengers and employees, as well as local residents, deserve to have an end to this endless speculation and uncertainty."