Father Christmas will be able to fly unimpeded into UK airspace, Britain’s aviation regulator revealed on Wednesday.
The promise - responding to calls by MPs to copy a tradition in Ireland - came as the Government unwittingly cast light on just how Santa Claus can be in so many places at once.
“We can confirm Santa has an approved operating licence to carry presents into the UK and is all clear to enter UK airspace,” a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson told the Standard.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride earlier said that the annual guarantee by Ireland’s parliament was “enormously important”.
“And I know that the Prime Minister, the whole Government, we are all very pro-Santa Claus,” he stressed on Sky News. “Absolutely, there will be no barriers to Santa Claus delivering this year.”
The minister was speaking after MPs weighed into the debate. The SNP’s Owen Thompson said it was a “really lovely tradition” for the Dail - Ireland’s lower house - to confirm Santa has permission to enter Irish airspace for Christmas.
He filed an Early Day Motion (EDM) lamenting that the CAA “does not make a similar gesture” and joked: “Hopefully a move like this would also ensure no attempts from the Tory Right to divert Santa’s sleigh to Rwanda.”
The Midlothian MP on Wednesday welcomed Mr Stride’s intervention. It was “great to see the UK Gov have confirmed Santa can enter UK airspace in response to my EDM yesterday”, he tweeted.
Elsewhere in the Commons debate, MPs discussed their favourite Christmas films. Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said he knew the “entire script” for Home Alone and Home Alone 2, but described later sequels as “abominations”.
Leaked footage emerged meanwhile of a "private conversation" between Science Secretary Michelle Donelan and Professor Dame Angela McLean, the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser.
📣 We're disappointed that footage of a private conversation between @uksciencechief and @michelledonelan has been made public (sources say elves are responsible), and we've taken the decision to publish the video in question for the benefit of any non-believers...🎅 pic.twitter.com/d9l26305rZ
— Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (@SciTechgovuk) December 20, 2023
In the video, Dame Angela explains to Ms Donelan the mystery of how Santa can deliver millions of gifts all in one night. He cannot break the laws of physics so can’t travel faster than the speed of light, the top boffin says.
“But there are some things in quantum physics that we think he may well be using to help him in that all-important work of getting a present to every child all round the world,” Dame Angela reveals.
“So what we think he's doing is he gets toys that he's made at the North Pole, and he puts them into this special state. It's called an ‘entangled state’.
“And what that means is that when the first child opens a present on Christmas morning, that ensures that every child all over the world is going to get a present.”
But there is one cast-iron rule, the scientist stresses.
“If anyone were to see Father Christmas, that would break the entangled state and none of this would work. So that's why we have to absolutely insist that children get to bed in good time on Christmas Eve.”
