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Hounslow Liberal Democrats |
Letter - Terminal error by Government
July 28, 2002 12:00 AM
So, once again the government has shown it is prepared to bulldoze its way through local opinion where air traffic is concerned.
And for once 'bulldozed' is not an exaggeration: even supporters of Terminal 5 cannot have expected their victory to be immediately followed by proposals to demolish thousands of houses to build another runway and perhaps a sixth terminal. None of us seriously believed the 'no third runway' promise would be kept, but few of us thought it would be broken quite so quickly.
Heathrow's growth cannot continue unchecked, particularly as its expansion prevents the development of regional airports. These are vital for the growth of regional economies and would reduce the number of people forced to travel long distances to clog our already overcrowded roads.
The Liberal Democrats have long argued for a shift in emphasis from London to the regions and we will oppose the nonsensical proposal to further expand Heathrow. This expansion seems to be based on the policy of 'predict and provide' - yet this is a policy the government abandoned for road building as it was ineffective. The truth is that after September 11th, all the old predictions for growth in air travel were rendered meaningless.
I see the local Labour Party has thrown its hands up in horror at the plans - but can it possibly expect to be listened to, when Tony Blair has such a track record of ignoring his backbenchers and squashing his councils? The only things he listens to are collapsing opinion polls and defeats at the ballot box - and these proposals are certain to give him plenty of those to ponder.
Andy Darley
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Feltham and Heston
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