Heathrow expansion is a plan that will never fly
Anti Heathrow airport third runway protest, Parliament Square, 2015 (Credit: Alex MacNaughton / Alamy Stock Photo)
4 min read
Pity poor William Russell! His response to the age of the telegraph was “faster horses”. In 1860, brushing stagecoaches aside, he created the Pony Express, which carried letters across America in just 10 days. By October the following year, the first telegram had flashed from Missouri to California, and the Pony Express was dead.
Labour’s renewed support for Heathrow expansion in its quest for growth suggests it is looking for the solutions of the past to provide the growth of the future. Seven years ago, the Department for Transport embarrassed itself by its inability to produce a robust business case for the project. That was 50 years after the idea of the third runway was first floated in 1968, and they still couldn’t land a decent proposal without the chaos of relocating the M25, bulldozing two villages, diverting the course of five rivers and breaching our legally binding emission reductions targets.
The UK’s 'old economy' of aviation and fossil fuels grew just 0.1 per cent last year, while the green economy expanded by nine per cent
Today, as companies drive emission reductions down their supply chains, and deals are done digitally, the argument that we need to expand a hub airport makes little sense. Already one third of Heathrow passengers are transfers, using the UK as a hub, and never setting foot in the country – or more importantly, spending any money in it. The UK’s 'old economy' of aviation and fossil fuels grew just 0.1 per cent last year, while the green economy expanded by nine per cent. The Chancellor should find out where growth truly lies and how long it might take to deliver. If she really wants to “kickstart the economy”, a third runway by 2040 seems more like ‘kick the can down the road’.
As self check-in and automated baggage handling continue to decimate jobs in airports, it is the regional growth projects like the East-West Rail Link and the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor that will give rise to legacy jobs long after construction has finished. Yet the Chancellor points to the 10,000 jobs that will be created during construction of a third runway even though the Construction Skills Network tells us that we are short of 251,500 workers to meet the existing infrastructure projects through to 2028. In a time of skills shortage, Heathrow expansion will suck skilled workers and prosperity away from the rest of the UK directly contradicting one of the government’s four tests.
The Airports Commission estimate that up to 28,000 more people would be exposed to unacceptable noise pollution above 70 decibels by a third runway, and 300,000 more residents would have flights over their homes. A third runway means 2,000 extra flights per day. Heathrow’s neighbours face elevated air pollution: between 3,000 and 10,000 Ultra Fine Particles per cubic centimetre of air they breathe that penetrate every organ of the body including the placenta. So, more noise and more air pollution – two more of the four tests.
The independent Climate Change Committee, has stated that “for aviation, there is currently no credible way to reach zero emissions by 2050”. They recognise that to achieve net-zero, flying even at current levels will have to be offset by further reductions in other sectors. This means that remaining emissions from aviation in a net-zero world must be balanced by other carbon sinks, such as tree planting or peatland restoration. They welcome the progress in sustainable aviation fuel. But they are clear: “There’s a limit to what can be achieved by technological solutions. So, a significant part of the story will be limiting the growth in aviation.”
Every new report tells us we need “urgent transformative action” because only one third of our targets for emissions reductions in the fifth and sixth carbon budgets are currently covered by credible plans. It is right that Labour should present itself as the party of future growth. To do so, it should leave Heathrow’s expansion firmly in the past.
Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent West
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