The Mayor of London's plan for a 'Boris Island' were dealt a blow today as the shadow transport secretary ruled out the idea. Theresa Villiers said Boris Johnson's idea of building an airport in the Thames Estuary as an alternative to expansion at Heathrow was "not Conservative policy". She also said Mr Johnson was "independent" from the national party.

Mr Johnson wants to build up to six runways on an island in the estuary two miles off Sheerness in Kent. A feasibility study is currently being conducted by Doug Oakervee, chair of the Crossrail project.

But Mrs Villiers said: "It is not the Conservative policy to build an airport in the estuary. Boris is independent of the Conservatives on this issue."

Read the full article in The Evening Standard.


Boris Island was always only slightly more probable than BAA's fantasy jumbos, but at least there were practical reasons behind the idea.

Which is more than can be said for BAA's plans for Heathrow and the government's discredited aviation policy.