Heathrow cleared for take-off ...but will it get off the ground?
After MPs finally vote for third runway, Khan and councils begin legal bid to block plans at any cost
TOWN halls and the London Mayor vowed to block Heathrow expansion at any cost last night after MPs gave the green light to a third runway.
Council chiefs prepared to launch a legal challenge within days, describing the move as ‘illegal’.
They warned that expanding the west London airport would make life ‘intolerable’ for residents and would condemn thousands to ‘premature deaths from dangerous levels of air pollution’.
MPs supported the expansion by 415 votes to 119, giving the Government a majority of 296.
Nearly all Tory MPs voted in favour of the plans, while around 116 Labour MPs voted with the Government. Around 95 voted against. The SNP abstained.
Jesse Norman, transport minister, summed up the four-hour debate by criticising the SNP for deciding to abstain from the vote at the last minute.
But he said this position was ‘clarity itself’ compared to Labour, which allowed its MPs a free vote despite recommending they vote against the extension.
‘I have seen sludge from the bottom of the Thames that is more clear than Labour’s position on this topic,’ he said. Five local authorities – backed by Greenpeace and London Mayor Sadiq Khan – said they had already amassed a six-figure fighting fund, and are hoping to win support from other councils.
Opponents of Heathrow expansion now have six weeks to launch legal proceedings, and town hall officials will meet law firm Harrison Grant on Thursday to thrash out their strategy.
Their pledge comes after a heated debate last night, in which the central lobby in Parliament was locked down after 12 demonstrators staged a noisy ‘lie in’ protest.They chanted ‘vote no, Heathrow’.
One of the protesters, Fliss Premru, from north London, said she believed false promises had been made about the jobs that would be created by the expansion.
‘They want to divide and conquer,’ she said. ‘We can’t tackle huge environmental issues in London and build a third runway.’ But Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the go-ahead for Heathrow would bring an end to almost half a century of prevarication and provide a vital boost for Brexit Britain – while ensuring the airport does not slip behind rivals.
Opening the Commons debate, Mr Grayling warned MPs that UK airports are filling up fast.
He said: ‘What is actually happening is we’re seeing business leave the UK and go to airports like Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris that have made additional capacity provision.’
Heathrow intends to begin construction in 2021 and insists the third runway will be running by 2026. But the Government now faces the prospect of being bogged down by years of legal wrangling.
Former trade minister Greg Hands, who quit the Government to vote against a third runway, told the debate: ‘I have not resigned willingly. This is not just for me a debate about Heathrow, it’s a debate about being true to your word and your election pledges.’
But council leaders promised to do everything they can to block construction.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – who is opposed to Heathrow expansion and skipped last night’s Commons vote by going on a trip to Afghanistan – warned the third runway would never be built.
The local authorities Hillingdon, Richmond, Wandsworth, and Windsor and Maidenhead, the Prime Minister’s constituency, have joined forces to launch a judicial review of the decision. Hammersmith and Fulham council is also backing them.
One of the key focuses of the challenge will be the campaigners’ claim that the runway – which will generate an extra 260,000 flights every year – will push Heathrow further in breach of air pollution targets.
They have also warned the extra noise generated by more than 700 additional flights every day will make living near to the airport unbearable for residents.
The Government has announced there will be a six-and-a-half hour night-time flight ban and a fund to help people install noise insulation in their homes.
Former education secretary Justine Greening, whose Putney constituency is affected by Heathrow,
‘Vital boost for Brexit Britain’
branded the expansion plan ‘fantasy economics’.
She said: ‘If you were asking me to come up with the most backward-looking, ill-thought-through, poorly-bottomed-out, badly-articulated... bad- value- for- money, most-polluting airport plan I could find, this would be it.’ Mr Grayling’s warning over rival airports comes as a damning report shows how far the UK’s airports are falling behind.
Last year, Heathrow was in second place behind Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in terms of number of direct flights. But Frankfurt has claimed the top spot this year, with Heathrow falling to third place. The airport industry connectivity report found that all 23 of the best connected airports across Europe are providing more flights this year than last.
The exceptions are Heathrow and London Gatwick, which are both slowly shrinking.
And while ministers have dith-
ered over airport expansion in the UK for almost fifty years, Frankfurt has built two new runways since 1984.
After yesterday’s vote, Heathrow still needs to secure planning permission or a Direct Consent Order, which is ultimately granted by the transport secretary of the day. Mr Grayling has said he will not sign it off unless the airport shows it can meet targets on air quality and noise.
Airport officials are believed to be confident that a legal challenge against expansion will fail – partly because the third runway received the unanimous backing of the independent Airports Commission three years ago.
ABOUT time, too! As MPs finally give the go-ahead to ministers’ plans for a third runway at Heathrow, is the longest chapter of political cowardice in our history at last drawing to a close?
Indeed, this paper prays that last night’s vote marks the beginning of the end of 50 years of wrangling, dithering and delays that have shown our politicians at their pusillanimous and self-interested worst.
Right up to that crucial division, few emerged with any credit from either side of the debate over where to site the first fulllength runway in the South East since the Second World War.
Take Jeremy Corbyn, who suggested he might overturn the choice of Heathrow if he came to power, thereby threatening to prolong the indecision even further.
His apparent aim was merely to cause maximum trouble for the Government. Thus, once again, he put petty politics above the national interest.
Nor did Chancellor Philip Hammond or Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson behave much better. Both had told their constituents they would oppose expanding the airport, with Boris even saying he would lie down in front of the bulldozers.
Yet when the moment came for the vote, both were conveniently out of the country. Indeed, if this affair teaches them anything, they will think hard before making empty promises to curry constituents’ favour.
Yes, this paper has much sympathy with those living near Heathrow (though they can draw comfort from the fact that aeroengines are becoming ever quieter and cleaner). But whichever site was chosen, local people would have faced disruption.
What is indisputable – as rivals in France, Germany and elsewhere attract business that might otherwise come to Britain – is that the UK is crying out for greater airport capacity and the jobs that will come with it. This will be truer than ever after Brexit. As for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has threatened to delay any development for years through the courts, his shortsightedness is a betrayal of the capital’s standing in this competitive world.
Even without his obstruction, the new runway won’t be ready for use before 2025 – by which time China plans to have built 136 new airports, with India completing 31 in the next 12 months alone!
For Britain’s sake, politicians must stop bickering – and crack on with it.