The Department for Transport has denied allegations that transport secretary Grant Shapps lobbied to protect airfields from house building.
The response came after the Sunday Times reported that he had set up an adivsory team that helped airfields challenge developments.
The report triggered criticism from Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner of Shapps, an amateur pilot.
She called for an inquiry into the claims for a possible breach of the ministerial code.
In response, the DfT described the newspaper’s claims about general aviation as “misleading”.
“The transport secretary works to promote all aspects of the department’s brief, including the general aviation sector which contributes £4 billion to the economy and supports 40,000 jobs,” it said.
Aviation minister Robert Courts also rallied around his boss with a series of tweets.
Courts said: “Without general aviation – which includes training – there wouldn’t be any future pilots, never mind any chance of increasing the diversity that is such a focus of @transportgovuk’s work. GA is aviation’s grassroots & testbed of innovation – of course Grant Shapps should promote it.
“Of course it is right that the transport secretary should work to help this sector. Saying he can’t because he’s a pilot is like saying the roads minister shouldn’t drive a car.
“All this story amounts to is proving that Grant Shapps knows his brief inside out, is passionate about it and brings real expertise to the job. Most people would say that is a good thing.”
More: Grant Shapps retains transport role in cabinet reshuffle [September 21]
Trade petition demands vote of no confidence in Grant Shapps [June 21]