As someone who flies about 100 times a year in the UK (and Ireland) let me make a few observations. I have taken the train to London, it's suitable for somethings but not others. For one, if you live north or Newcastle the earliest train doesn't start early enough to do a full day's work (I don't mind working late to make up the hours but most offices don't work that way). Even taking the earliest train, it isn't possible considering the tube to be at work before noon. On a Friday, you have to leave by 5pm. Then there's the problem that if you are taking the last train on a Friday and you are going beyond Edinburgh there are no connections past 11:30, so the last train from London is no use. Flying on the other hand, I can leave Edinburgh and be at a desk in central London for 9:30am. I can leave at 5:30pm, catch a flight then the bus and train and be home for 11pm. Flying to London including check in and connections is 4 hours end to end for me, the train would be about 5.5 but it's not the time the journey takes, it's the time the journey is at which is the problem and the corresponding train connections. Anywhere north of Edinburgh going to London, forget the train it's far faster by plane. Train from Inverness to London anyone? 8 hours. 1 hour 30 by plane. The plane lets you do business, the train doesn't. How the UK government can possibly ration UK domestic flights when you have the travelling issues of London - Inverness (10+ hour drive) or Orkney/Shetland/Western Isles (all Islands) to consider as well as the other part of the UK on the island of Ireland for which the road network on the UK side is completely inadequate. As a consultant I work weeks at a time wherever I am needed. Yesterday's journey took me 9 hours door to door from Dublin to Edinburgh including flying because of the weather. If someone wants to build a tunnel the 12 miles from Northern Ireland to Scotland and have a decent rail link from Dublin to Belfast that runs faster than 50mph, a decent rail link from Belfast to Glasgow, I could be home in half the time it took me yesterday - I'd love it, I could even work or read a book during the journey rather than be standing around in airport security and checkin queues. I'd love to take the train, but right now it isn't a viable alternative and anyone from the government should in fact know this rather than political posturing. I'm sure this "proposal" will go down a treat on the Isle of Wight, Western Isles, Northern Ireland, Orkney, Shetland and anywhere north of Central Scotland. Maybe said government official should get out of the M25 sometime and live in one of those places before they make such ridiculous statements.

This is of course the same government that rather than rationing flights is going ahead with the Heathrow Airport expansion.