Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Yorkshire MP doubles down on airport closure claims dubbed 'blatant lie' by mayor

Conservative Don Valley MP said he is set to launch five days of posts relating to the role of local and regional mayors in the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. It comes after the MP delivered a leaflet to constituents which claimed the airport was closed by Doncaster Council. The airport was closed following a strategic review by owner Peel Group in 2022.

In response to the claims, Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones released a statement in which she called for Mr Fletcher to apologise for what she called a “blatant lie.”

Following the release of the statement to press, Mr Fletcher shared a Facebook post in which he refused to back down from his claim. He said: “I will not tolerate being called a liar.”

Mr Fletcher continued that rather than the council and regional South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) directly closing the airport as his leaflet suggested, they were “to blame” for its closure.

He continued: “The two mayors have a green agenda which takes the stance that we have a climate emergency. Forget 2050. They want 2030. Airports do not fit with any radical green agenda.”

Since Monday (Feb 19), Mr Fletcher has begun sharing daily posts giving further details to support his narrative. He discussed an incident in which airport owners Peel Group requested a £20 million loan from the SYMCA.

Mr Fletcher discussed how Peel was required to lay out a sustainability roadmap to access the loan which would include plans to lower emissions on the site.

In his second post, he discusses how the loan failed to appear on the agenda for a following SYMCA meeting, claiming that the loan “disappeared”.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has stated previously, however, that the main reason for the loan’s refusal was due to Peel failing to share its accounts.

Mr Fletcher has stated that he will share three more posts in relation to the loan throughout the week, with the final claiming to “pull all these strands together”.