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I challenge Brown to open debate on Heathrow, says Boris
Pippa Crerar, City Hall Editor15 Jan 2009
BORIS Johnson today challenged Gordon Brown to a head-to-head public debate on his plans for a third runway at Heathrow.
The Mayor issued the Prime Minister an invitation to a public meeting on airport expansion to be held in Hillingdon next week.
He has already invited Heathrow owner BAA — which has agreed to attend — and transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick, who turned him down.
Mr Johnson has vowed to lead the battle against the third runway proposal along with environmentalists and west London residents, despite the Government's decision to go ahead.
He has already pledged £15,000 for legal action against the Government and has launched a feasibility study into the prospect of building an alternative airport in the Thames Estuary.
“I throw down the gauntlet to Gordon Brown to publicly defend this deeply undemocratic decision in Hillingdon — a community that is being asked to live with its consequences,” he said.
“There has never been a proper public debate on this issue and now the Government has decided to proceed, there clearly has to be.”
Mr Johnson added: “This is a truly devastating blow for millions of Londoners whose lives are now set to be blighted by massive increases in air pollution and noise.
“The Government has singularly failed to deliver a convincing case for expansion throughout or adequate solutions for the nightmare problems this would cause.
“No amount of sweeteners in the shape of transport infrastructure will fundamentally alter the fact that the Government is hell-bent on exacerbating a planning error of the Forties and that Heathrow is not fit for purpose.”
Mr Johnson confirmed this week that he was prepared to challenge the Government in court if it “failed to see sense” and gave BAA the green
light to apply for a third runway.
He insisted that Heathrow expansion was a “doomed and impractical” project that would “seriously erode” Londoners' quality of life.
Along with other critics he said the third runway would breach the EU's pollution targets and increase congestion in west London.
But the Government claims that, despite the environmental concerns and the complaints of people living near Heathrow, expansion is vital for jobs, economic growth, investment and the long-term competitiveness of Britain.
Mr Johnson revealed he was already taking legal advice on whether the proper processes had been followed ahead of the announcement and
predicted that a third runway would never be built because of legal, environmental and practical factors.
Reader views (9)
If Airtrack gets of the ground, the Level Crossings in Egham will be CLOSED for most of the time: up to 44 minutes
AND THEY SAY WE DON'T NEED A BRIDGE OR TUNNEL
If you live, work, study, shop or play in Egham, you will be stuck in a monster traffic jam..
Protest. Demand a Tunnel or a Bridge. Make them realise we will not take this lying down.
They can afford it, why should they kill our town so that other people can zoom through on a train? Protest to Airtrack, Network Rail, Surrey County Council, Department for Transport, South East England Regional Assembly. Please DO NOT let our town be cut in two!!!
- Lee Hamilton, EGHAM UK, 07/02/2009 22:21
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The Airport at Heathrow is already too big. In the name of short term jobs (in construction), more profits and increased pollution, people's homes will be destroyed and some very historic areas ruined.
It was a dangerous mistake the airport is where is and expansion must be stopped.
In other countries in Europe many short haul flights have been replaced by public transport.
Also perhaps the country should be thinking about closing the airport at Heathrow all together and rebuilding more northerly!
- Paul, Born in Heston, Midd'x, 29/01/2009 10:11
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I challenge Boris to stop his cuts in new projects which would benefit London's public transport network!
How can it be right that our own Mayor is retrenching to existing transport corridors (with the subsidy of every Londoner, instead of providing a universal standard of public transport access for all!
- Phil, Peckham, SE15, 21/01/2009 15:11
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Boris, as long as you both debate in your second language, English
- Andrew W1, London, 16/01/2009 21:22
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Brown, and what is left of his rotten party, are challenged almost every day. They are challenged on the way they have ruined our economy, and the way they are taking us deeper into debt. They are challenged about our hospitals, our schools, our manufacturing industry, our pensions. They are challenged about our rights being taken away from us on an almost daily basis, on their ever increasing taxes being imposed upon us.
But the biggest challenge of all, the one they constantly duck out of, in order to keep their snouts firmly in the trough, is the challenge of a General Election.
The people of Great Britain have had enough of Gordon Brown and his money grabbing mates in New Labour. Accept the big challenge Gordon, and give us a General Election now!
- Peter Thurgood, London UK, 16/01/2009 12:50
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Brown is so undemocratic,it is unreal, when New Labour is kicked out at the next election,the party should be disbanded and never again allowed to reform. What this government has done to this country is unforgeable.
- Jim Green, Peterborough, England, 15/01/2009 21:10
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What an idiot Brown is. Although my town is going to be seriously affected, I feel particularly for Sipson - for the next 10 years no-one is going to be able to sell their house, and they are going to face dramatic falls in property value. Just what the people of Sipson need in times of economic uncertainty.
I think we should seriously consider a PURPOSE BUILT island and 24 airport in the Thames esturary as Boris proposes.
Not only that - the combination of AirTrack and this, will destroy the businesses and lives of every resident in the Egham, Chertsey and Virginia Water area. Not to mention the flooding that will occur in the Spelthorne and Runnymede area due to the water displaced by the airport and the pollution caused by the new flights.
Thanks.
Thanks a lot.
- Joshua Burge, EGHAM, Surrey, 15/01/2009 16:39
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Brown will not do it. Even in Parliament he is always so defensive and blaming everything and everyone except for himself and Nu Labor. It is clear the man was never elected. How could the UK fall in the Zimbabwe situation I cannot understand.
- Steveo, London NW1, 15/01/2009 16:07
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Alongside the RSPB, Friends of the North Kent Marshes are wholly opposed to the construction of an airport anywhere in the Thames Estuary because of the immense damage it would cause to the area’s internationally important wildlife and the wider environment.The whole issue was exhaustively investigated between 2002 and 2005 in the Government’s Aviation White Paper. All the key players, including the aviation industry, contributed. The idea of an airport in the Thames Estuary was conclusively ruled out and upheld by the High Court. In addition to the unprecedented environmental damage and the resulting massive legal implications, the investigation found that an estuary airport did not make sense economically, would not meet the requirements of the aviation industry and presented a significantly higher risk of ‘bird strike’ than at any other major airport in the UK.It would potentially be the single biggest piece of environmental vandalism ever perpetrated in the UK
Boris Johnson should talk to the RSPB, the 'REAL EXPERTS' on the Thames Estuary
Climate change remains the greatest threat to biodiversity and alongside the RSPB we believe that there should be no further airport expansion. Emissions from aircraft remains the fastest increasing source of greenhouse gasesand the demand for flights should be managed rather than just accepted as necessary..
- Gill Moore, Cliffe Kent, 15/01/2009 10:52
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