Cancel new runway plans, say Tories
Ned Temko and Juliette Jowit
Sunday July 1, 2007
The Observer
Plans for new runways at Heathrow and Stansted airports should be shelved, the Conservative party will claim later this summer - dramatically challenging Gordon Brown's green credentials. The issue could prove thorny for the new Prime Minister following his decision last week to name the former CBI chief - and vocal advocate of airport expansion - Sir Digby Jones as a junior minister.
The Tory proposal for a moratorium on new runways until there is compelling evidence that railways cannot offer lower-emissions alternatives has emerged from David Cameron's 'Quality of Life' commission, one of six policy-review groups set up help chart the Conservatives' future political battleground. Its report, now in the final stages of preparation, is expected to be presented within weeks. Commission sources are confident it will get a warm reception from the party leader, who has made environmental issues a priority in modernising the Tory's message.
'Nearly a quarter of flights from Heathrow are on routes reachable by rail,' a senior commission source said yesterday, singling out destinations such as Manchester and Paris. 'It may be that issues such as rail pricing have to be addressed as part of a rational decision on new runways.
'Our view is that, given the emissions and other environmental questions, it would be entirely wrong to go ahead with new runways in London or the South East until there is compelling proof that rail cannot provide an alternative.'
A moratorium would represent a frontal assault on Labour policy. In December, the then Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander, reaffirmed government support for a third runway at Heathrow and a second at Stansted. A Transport Department spokesman told The Observer last week that there were no plans to change that policy. 'The only question is whether a third Heathrow runway could be built within new EU emissions levels which come into force in 2010. If not, we would support a second runway at Gatwick,' he said.
News of the Tory proposal was strongly welcomed by environmental and anti-aviation campaigners. John Stewart, the chair of pressure group HACAN ClearSkies, (the Heathrow Association for Control of Aircraft Noise), which campaigns against the expansion of the airport, said that the Conservatives' proposal could tip the balance against expansion.
'This idea of a moratorium changes everything. It puts real pressure both on the Labour government and BAA [which owns Britain's major airports]. It throws the mother of all spanners into their plans,' he added.
The pro-aviation group FlyingMatters, headed by Digby Jones, said that Britain's limited high-speed rail links would not offer sufficient capacity or convenience to deal with growing demand. Flying Matters' director Michelle Di Leo added that any delay in expanding Heathrow would damage Britain's ability to attract and keep businesses which depended on air links.