“I am delighted that Mr Speaker has granted me the opportunity of a 1 ½ hour Westminster Hall debate on 6th January on the subject of the Air Transport Fleet and RAF Lyneham,” said North Wiltshire MP James Gray this morning.

“I have campaigned long and hard to save RAF Lyneham and now believe that a number of changes in the wider Air Transport Fleet just may conceivably offer us a window of opportunity.”

“With the help of a number of well informed advisors, I have drafted a dossier on all of these air transport changes, explaining why I believe that they should result in the decision to close Lyneham being reversed.”

“This debate will give me the opportunity of explaining those arguments in outline to current defence ministers, after which I will be presenting the dossier to David Cameron, Liam Fox and Gerald Howarth in the hope that they will be responsible for the defence of the UK within a few months time.”