Tag Archives: heathrow

What next for London’s airports?

By The Voice | Published 31st October 2011 - 11:54 am

One of the first acts of the Coalition was to scrap plans for a third runway at Heathrow, whilst Boris Johnson’s plans for a new airport on an artifical island in the Thames Estuary have not been going anywhere much. So what next for the region’s airports?

This is what the BBC had to report:

What’s your view?

Posted in London | Also tagged boris johnson | 3 Comments

Flight cancelled or delayed? Reasons to be thankful for EU Regulation 261/2004

By Stephen Tall | Published 22nd December 2010 - 10:15 am

While the Westminster Village is fixated by the Telegraph-hyped furore that Lib Dem ministers don’t always agree with every aspect of Coalition policy (shock, horror etc), the rest of the country is focused on a British obsession bigger even than the media’s predeliction for attaching the suffix ‘-gate’ to a noun: the weather.

Newspaper and TV pictures have been dominated by images of those hoping for a holiday getaway having their hopes dashed and their tempers frayed by the endless queues and chaos at Heathrow and for the Eurostar. …

Posted in Europe / International, News | Also tagged consumer rights, european union, transport | 7 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 26 March 2010

By Helen Duffett | Published 26th March 2010 - 10:52 am

Time flies – Friday already! And is it really 29 years to the day that the Gang of Four launched a new political party: the Social Democrats?

Roy Jenkins said at the launch:

We want to get away from the politics of our dated dogmatism and class confrontation. We want to release the energies of people who are fed up with the old slanging match.

Watch the video of the launch here.

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Digital economy bill to be pushed through parliament next month

The controversial digital economy bill will be pushed through in the “wash-up” leading up to an election, after the government confirmed that it will receive its second reading in the Commons on 6 April – the same day that Gordon Brown is expected to seek Parliament’s dissolution.

Harriet Harman, the leader of the house, said today that the bill will get its second reading. But when questioned by Labour MPs Neil Gerrard and Tom Watson about the lack of time given to debate over controversial issues in the bill, she said only that “ministers are aware” of the strong feelings that the proposed legislation has engendered. [Guardian]

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged chris davies, digital economy bill, ed fordham, mark thompson, roy jenkins, SDP, susan kramer | 1 Comment

Are the Tories set for Heathrow expansion U-turn?

By Stephen Tall | Published 22nd July 2009 - 2:35 pm

Here’s what Tory frontbencher Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, shadow minister for trade and devlopment, has to say about the third runway at Heathrow:

This is a very difficult and controversial issue. Although I voted to oppose the third runway, I am fully aware of the potential damage this might do to Britain’s international air travel. … So I expect this is an issue that will need to be revisited after the election.”

Local Lib Dem MP for Richmond Susan Kramer – who stepped down from the party’s shadow cabninet to focus her energies on the campaign against Heathrow’s expansion – has been quick …

Posted in News | Also tagged geoffrey clifton-brown, susan kramer | 2 Comments

Dept of Transport admits: Hoon withholding information about Heathrow from MPs

By Hywel Morgan | Published 11th March 2009 - 9:24 am

I recently sent Geoff Hoon an email concerning his statement to the House of Commons on the third Heathrow runway. Whilst I was asking him a rather obscure and pedantic point relating to the language he used, the reply I got is rather revealing.

To that end [deciding about the third runway], the Secretary of State reached his decision on the basis of a transparent and objective analysis of the evidence available as a result of the consultation that has taken place. He alone had the necessary knowledge of all the facts and issues that required consideration.

It

…

Posted in News | Also tagged geoff hoon | 3 Comments

Labour backs Heathrow expansion – Norman and Susan lead Lib Dem opposition campaign

By Stephen Tall | Published 29th January 2009 - 9:31 am

As BBC News reports:

The government has won a vote over plans for Heathrow’s third runway – but saw its majority cut to just 19. … The Lib Dems supported the [motion urging the Government to "rethink" plans] but the ministers argue scrapping the plans would seriously damage the economy. More than 50 Labour MPs had previously expressed concerns about the plans in other Commons motions but only 28 of them voted for the Conservative motion on Wednesday.

It’s an all-too familiar scenario – Labour MPs queue up to sign Early Day Motions criticising their own party, then use their threat to withold support as bartering chips. All of which would be commendable if they didn’t then cash their chits for ridiculously small concessions, such as ‘a pledge to initially cap flights on the new runway’ [my emphasis].

Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for transport Norman Baker, and local Richmond MP Susan Kramer were among those leading the campaign against the Heathrow expansion. Extracts from their Commons speeches below, with links to the full Hansard transcripts, follow:

Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged norman baker, susan kramer | Leave a comment

Opinion: Opposition is only half the fight – we must spell out our plan for Heathrow

By Benjamin Mathis | Published 19th January 2009 - 2:23 pm

What follows is very much not dissent in the ranks or any kind of support for a third runway at Heathrow – if for no other reason than I don’t want to give John McDonnell any excuse to start wielding the Mace again. I fully support and agree with the Lib Dem campaign being ably led by Susan Kramer and Norman Baker against blighting south-west London and surrounding areas with yet more noise, pollution and congestion.

But the Government has now announced its decision on a new runway and Terminal 6 and, while I hope we will be able to …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged high-speed rail, john mcdonnell, norman baker, railways, susan kramer, transport | 4 Comments

15th Lib Dem MP signs up to ‘Airplot’ battle against Heathrow expansion

By The Voice | Published 17th January 2009 - 11:46 am

Yesterday LDV reported the Parliamentary speeches of Norman Baker and Susan Kramer opposing the Labour Government’s planned expansion of Heathrow airport.

And today we can note that Richard Younger-Ross has become the 15th Lib Dem MP to become a ‘beneficial owner’ of a plot of land on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow airport, a Greenpeace move aimed at holding up the scheme in planning red-tape. As Susan says on the Greenpeace website,

At every stage the Government has ignored public opinion and shamelessly ignored the grave environmental risk of expanding Heathrow. At every stage, residents

…

Posted in News | Also tagged richard younger-ross, susan kramer | Leave a comment

Baker & Kramer lead Lib Dem opposition to Heathrow expansion

By Stephen Tall | Published 16th January 2009 - 9:40 am

Yesterday Labour’s transport secretary Geoff Hoon announced to the House of Commons that the Government was giving the go-ahead to the expansion of Heathrow airport.

The Tories are officially opposing the new third runway, though there are many splits in their ranks, from shadow cabinet members and Tory MPs, to Tory bloggers, to Oliver Dowden, their Director of Political Operations.

Lib Dem opposition is wholehearted, embracing both those who believe the Heathrow business case is fundamentally flawed, as well as those who point to the environmental destruction that will result. Lib Dem shadow transport secretary Norman Baker and Susan – who’s leading the party’s campaign against the expansion – both responded to Mr Hoon’s Commons statement yesterday. The Hansard transcripts of their comments follows:

Posted in News | Also tagged geoff hoon, norman baker, susan kramer | 2 Comments

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