Labour was mocked after it emerged that aviation minister Keir Mather praised Britain's air traffic control system as "well prepared" with "increased resilience" just a day before it suffered a major meltdown. A four-hour technical failure at National Air Traffic Services (NATS) forced the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights, leaving over 330,000 passengers facing delays and cancellations at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, undermining ministers' claims that lessons had been learned from a similar collapse in 2023.

Mather, appointed aviation minister last September aged 27, made the comments in a written parliamentary answer, insisting all 34 recommendations from a Civil Aviation Authority review following the 2023 incident had been implemented, and citing new laws easing recruitment of air traffic controllers from abroad and the military. NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe, who was paid £1.4 million last year and has also presided over a 2023 failure and a further incident in July, is facing calls to resign, including from the bosses of Ryanair and Wizz Air. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has declined to sack him but has demanded a report into the failure by the following Wednesday.