Heathrow third runway delayed ten years

9.18.24am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 19th Dec 2003

Libdems campaigning against a third runway

Liberal Democrats are pleased to hear that the government has ruled out a third runway at Heathrow for the next ten years on environmental grounds.

Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Transport, said that he had balanced the advantages of economic growth for the UK against nitrogen dioxide pollution levels in the vicinity of Heathrow.

However, Liberal Democrats are disappointed that he kept saying during interviews that he would not act to restrain the relentless increase in air traffic. He said that he did not want to curb people's legitimate desires to travel further as they become more prosperous and that air travel stimulated economic growth which was good for this country.

We all know that air travel is growing because it is cheap and it is cheap because it guzzles huge quantities of untaxed fuel which it pumps into the upper atmosphere as pollution and greenhouse gases.

We call on the government to have at least a plan to reduce this subsidy rather than reducing subsidies to railways.

Alistair Darling should be thinking not only of the need for clean air around Heathrow, but also of quiet skies and less road congestion.

He could do that by ruling out any expansion at all at Heathrow, by managing the growth of air travel and by directing future demand to regional airports around the country.