Labour is about to shred its green credentials over Heathrow’s third runway
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Version 0 of 1. This is aviation’s equivalent of HS2, writes John McDonnell MP, while Nick Hodgkinson says a government serious about climate commitments should not allow any airport to expand Is there any section of Labour support that its Treasury team hasn’t alienated yet? With Rachel Reeves’s personal backing, Heathrow airport has brought forward its ludicrous plans for a third runway (Heathrow submits ‘shovel-ready’ plans for third runway, 1 August). As a result, we are about to shred the party’s green credentials and mobilise not just the mass environmental movement against us but also a vast swathe of 2 million Londoners hit by increased noise and air pollution. All Ed Miliband’s good work on meeting climate change targets will be undermined by the carbon generated by this single development. At a cost of £50bn, and with Heathrow airport nearly £20bn in debt, nobody realistically believes that taxpayers won’t eventually be called upon to subsidise the scheme, and travellers forced to pay for it with massively increased landing charges. With its increased costings, the Heathrow third runway has already gained the reputation of being aviation’s equivalent of HS2. Approximately 15,000 of my constituents in west London will lose their homes, their schools and their whole communities – but there has not been a single expression of concern from any government minister. To top it all, some strategic genius has timetabled this nightmare decision to fall just before the next election. Here’s the tragic irony. The suffering of my constituents, the immense damage to Labour’s environmental strategy and the dire electoral consequences for the party will result from a scheme that very, very few, even in government, have any confidence will even go ahead.John McDonnell MPIndependent, Hayes and Harlington Fiona Harvey makes some very good points in her article (What will expanding Heathrow do to UK’s net zero plans? 1 August). There is simply no realistic prospect of scaling up fossil-fuel-substitute fuels to the levels required to cut the aviation industry’s climate pollution to net zero for decades. The only credible policy option now, if the government is serious about its climate commitments, is not to allow airports to expand. There is still time for a backbench rebellion – but who will lead it? Nick Hodgkinson Chair, Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport |