Yet another power is to be ceded to Brussels under new plans which aim for "harmonisation", but in fact will put those flying to or from Britain in more danger, Tom Hughes, Acting Chairman of Youthkip UoM, has said today.
The plans, part of a new package of common aviation rules, mean that the democratically elected British Government will no longer have control over which airlines are allowed to fly to Britain.
At the moment, the Government can prevent those airlines which is deems unsafe from operating services to the UK, meaning that British citizens, and visitors to the country, can have confidence in the airline that they are using.
The UK Government is already prevented from banning airlines from other EU countries landing in Britain, even if it believes that their planes are manifestly unsafe.
Under the new arrangements, if instructed to be the EU the British Government would be forced to allow airlines from countries such as Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Swaziland to operate services to and from the UK, even though all airlines from these countries are currently prohibited due to serious safety concerns.
The developments are particulary worrying as Britain currently has one of the highest safety standards in the EU, and there are serious concerns that harmonised standards would be lower, and therefore put lives at risk.
"One of the primary roles of the UK Government is to protect its citizens," said Tom Hughes. "By agreeing to these new conditions, they would have their hands tied, and have to watch the citizens they are supposed to be protecting get on planes over which they have serious safety concerns, without being able to do anything to protect them."
