This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/19/call-for-immediate-parliamentary-vote-on-heathrow-third-runway
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Airports Commission chair calls for immediate Heathrow third runway vote | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Sir Howard Davies, chair of the Airports Commission, has called for a parliamentary vote on airport expansion to be held without delay and reiterated the commission’s preference for a third runway at Heathrow. | Sir Howard Davies, chair of the Airports Commission, has called for a parliamentary vote on airport expansion to be held without delay and reiterated the commission’s preference for a third runway at Heathrow. |
| Speaking at the property conference MIPIM UK in London, Davies said he saw no reason why the House of Commons vote should not go ahead straight away. Theresa May has been accused of “dither and delay” by Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, after putting off the vote for another year. | |
| “I’m very nervous about a situation which says: ‘We can’t do something because people will protest.’ We have a democracy in this country,” Davies told investors and developers gathered at the Olympia conference centre. | |
| “We should put it [Heathrow expansion] to the House of Commons and see what the vote is, and not take the view that we can’t build an economically rational thing in an environmentally sensible way just because a few people will argue about it. That doesn’t seem to be a sensible way of making policy.” | “We should put it [Heathrow expansion] to the House of Commons and see what the vote is, and not take the view that we can’t build an economically rational thing in an environmentally sensible way just because a few people will argue about it. That doesn’t seem to be a sensible way of making policy.” |
| Davies added: “The arguments point very closely towards Heathrow and post Brexit even more so.” | |
| About 70% of tourism at Gatwick airport is outbound while at Heathrow it is the opposite, with 70% of tourism inbound, he said. He repeated a recent comment that Heathrow is the airport that links the UK to markets outside Europe. | |
| He was confident that the air pollution issue could be handled, and that the noise issue could be “significantly mitigated”. | He was confident that the air pollution issue could be handled, and that the noise issue could be “significantly mitigated”. |
| The Airports Commission examined three options in a report published last year: a third runway at Heathrow, which was the preferred choice, the extension of an existing runway at Heathrow, or the building of a second runway at Gatwick. | The Airports Commission examined three options in a report published last year: a third runway at Heathrow, which was the preferred choice, the extension of an existing runway at Heathrow, or the building of a second runway at Gatwick. |
| Addressing the impact of the Brexit vote on the UK economy, Davies – who is chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland – predicted a further rise in inflation, which hit 1% last month, after the referendum sparked a sharp decline in the value of sterling. He also expects a slowdown in economic growth in the long term, but noted the degree of the slowdown depended on the nature of Brexit. | Addressing the impact of the Brexit vote on the UK economy, Davies – who is chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland – predicted a further rise in inflation, which hit 1% last month, after the referendum sparked a sharp decline in the value of sterling. He also expects a slowdown in economic growth in the long term, but noted the degree of the slowdown depended on the nature of Brexit. |
| He said “the froth has gone off the London property market” as several banks prepare to move operations elsewhere in Europe. Citing a recent report, Davies said: “If we have a messy compromise, we could have a 15% fall [in house prices] and in London rather more than that.” | |
| He was doubtful that the weaker pound would boost British exports of goods, noting that “our goods exports are not particularly price sensitive” and that businesses would take a hit from the higher cost of imported materials. | He was doubtful that the weaker pound would boost British exports of goods, noting that “our goods exports are not particularly price sensitive” and that businesses would take a hit from the higher cost of imported materials. |
| The financier Guy Hands, the founder of buyout firm Terra Firma, was convinced that banks would relocate to New York rather than Frankfurt or Paris. “If the financial services business moves out of London, it will move out of Europe and will affect Europe very negatively indeed,” he said at the property conference. | |
| Hands favoured the UK remaining in the EU but said those who voted to leave were not “little Englanders”. He added: “It’s not the referendum that matters, it’s how Britain chooses to go forward.” | Hands favoured the UK remaining in the EU but said those who voted to leave were not “little Englanders”. He added: “It’s not the referendum that matters, it’s how Britain chooses to go forward.” |
| Hands stressed that “nobody has any real idea of what’s going to happen” to the property market. He did point to Britain’s “chronic housing shortage,” estimated at about 1.2m homes. “It’s the fundamental problem behind social deprivation. Will Brexit change that housing shortage? I don’t think it will.” | Hands stressed that “nobody has any real idea of what’s going to happen” to the property market. He did point to Britain’s “chronic housing shortage,” estimated at about 1.2m homes. “It’s the fundamental problem behind social deprivation. Will Brexit change that housing shortage? I don’t think it will.” |