The Government & Aviation

Press aticles

A parliamentary inquiry into lobbying, launched on 21st June 2007, considered external regulation, government interaction and funding by lobby groups. Details of BAA's lobbying groups and its close links to government formed part of this inquiry.

Written evidence submitted shows that a level playing field does not exist when it comes to BAA and BA securing meetings with the Secretary of State or the Under-Secretary of State for Transport.

The public administration select committee report said: "There has been widespread public concern that some areas of government policy have effectively been captured at an early stage by interest groups, usually within industry, and that public consultations have been unbalanced in the favour of these interests." It named Heathrow as an example of this and concluded that lobbying needed to be open to public scrutiny.

A separate investigation also revealed that BAA and the government “fixed” environmental targets while researching the impact of the third runway.

Some articles on these and similar subjects are referenced here.

Early Day Motions

On 17th December, 2008, an Early Day Motion (EDM) demanding a vote on the third runway in the Commons was submitted. Gordon Brown has refused a vote.

To see which MPs have signed this EDM, please click on the title below.

"ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW"

On 27th October, 2008, an EDM opposing the government's policy on the third runway was submitted for debate in the Commons. Although few EDMs make it to the floor of the House, a debate was held on 11th November, 2008, with the number of MPs speaking out against Heathrow expansion vastly outnumbering those in favour.

To see which MPs signed this EDM, please click the title below.

"GOVERNMENT POLICY ON THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW AIRPORT"

Hoon exit: ‘time for Heathrow rethink’ PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 12 June 2009 00:00

Transport secretary Geoff Hoon’s resignation provides an opportunity for the government to rethink its policy towards Heathrow expansion, according to the 2M Group. He is succeeded by Lord Adonis, formerly a junior transport minister.

Hounslow Council’s leader, Cllr Peter Thompson, speaking on behalf of 2M said: “All the local councils, residents organisations, environmental groups and business leaders who lined up to tell Geoff Hoon he was wrong about building a new airport the size of Gatwick at Heathrow will welcome his going. Lord Adonis now has the chance to draw a line under the Hoon era and take a long, hard look at just how a third runway squares with the government’s key policies on climate change. We know Lord Adonis is enthusiastic about high speed rail, but we have to get him to see that simply building a fast line to Heathrow will only increase demand for air travel when we should be putting in place a national network that provides real alternatives to short haul flights.”

Read the full article at The London Borough of Hounslow.


We agree. The government now has an opportunity to do the right thing.

But it had a similar opportunity and didn't take it when Ruth Kelly resigned, so we're not over-optimistic that anything will change.
 
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