Heathrow row takes off again as Tory says third runway’s back on

 
Boris Johnson: opposes third runway

A fresh battle erupted over Heathrow airport today as a senior Conservative MP said a third runway is “back on the Government's agenda”.

Kwasi Kwarteng, who sits on the Commons transport committee, warned Britain was becoming a “laughing stock” with the Coalition agreement ruling out another runway. He intervened in the row amid growing speculation that Chancellor George Osborne believes a third runway should be put back on the table as a possible solution to boost air links to growing economies.

“The Government recognises the problem and is open to any answer, which may include a third runway,” said Mr Kwarteng, MP for Spelthorne which borders on Heathrow.

“It was a mistake to rule it out. We can navel gaze, dither and agonise but the rest of the world is just powering ahead.”

He said that Stockholm airport has three runways and that Germany already has twice as many flights to China than Britain.

The row over the west London airport flared up again on the day Boris Johnson launched his transport strategy for the mayoral election.

In the strongest terms, the Mayor stressed he would oppose a third runway, saying it would not happen while he was in City Hall.

“It may be legally necessary to consider a third runway ... but it is my judgment that a third runway is dead and will not proceed,” he said.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening would also fiercely resist a U-turn on expanding Heathrow.

But Mr Osborne is said to be pushing for the block on a third runway not to be included in the next Tory general election manifesto.

His aides did not deny this but stressed he stood by the Coalition agreement on Heathrow.

Senior Tories, however, are now publicly arguing that the economic case for a third runway at Heathrow is “overwhelming”.

MP Tim Yeo, chairman of the Commons energy and climate change committee, now firmly backs the expansion.

“It’s clear that Britain is losing out to other countries which have more direct connections to these growing cities in Asia, particularly China, and we’ll suffer an increasing economic penalty unless we actually increase our capacity in London — unless we have direct flights there,” he said.

He added that for the first time this year UK greenhouse gas emissions from flying will fall within the European union emissions trading system.

“So that means that increasing runway capacity in the UK has absolutely no impact on the level of aviation emissions,” he stressed.

David Cameron last week highlighted the need to increase the number of flights to London and the South East.

The Prime Minister added that the Government is looking at plans for a “Boris island” airport in the Thames Estuary, and that Gatwick is emerging as a rival to Heathrow as a business airport for London.

But experts believe that an estuary airport will be hugely expensive.

Another possibility is to develop RAF Northolt, which is about six miles from Heathrow, into an effective third runway.

Unveiling his transport manifesto, Mr Johnson today pledged to bring down public transport fares for millions of Londoners by bringing in a new generation of driverless trains.

He said automating the Tube would make it “cheaper to run and cheaper to use”.

Almost half the rolling stock on the Underground would be automatic by the end of 2014 under his plan, with the first driverless trains within a decade.

He said: “I want to be absolutely clear. I want to keep fares as low as I conceivably can. That’s why modernisation is so important.” The Mayor said the historic move would reduce the power of the transport unions and help bring an end to the strikes that have crippled London.

Mr Johnson was seeking to counter his Labour mayoral rival Ken Livingstone’s pledge to slash fares by seven per cent.

Mr Johnson also pledged to secure new anti-strike laws from the Government. There have been 23 Tube strikes during his four years in office.

Automatic Tube trains already run on the Victoria, Central and Jubilee lines but they still have drivers.

The Northern line will be fully automated by 2014 and the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines will follow suit in 2018.

Key points of Johnson’s manifesto

  • Cut delays on Tube by a further 30 per cent: slightly less than over the last four years, this will be done through a “delays-busting” plan with new hi-tech signalling, track monitoring to spot defects and weekly “war-rooms” to discuss problems. There will be a new control centre, increased medical training, engineers would get “blue light” police escort to serious incidents and spare parts will delivered by motorbike.
  • Secure changes to strike laws: to bring in 50 per cent minimum turnout on ballots from Government.
  • Almost half of Tube rolling stock fully automated by end of 2014: with first driverless trains within a decade.
  • Bring in “wave and pay” style payments across Tube and bus network: enable passengers to pay by waving their credit/debit card or mobile phone at the Oyster reader. There will be no need for a separate travelcard or to top up.
  • Roll out 600 new Routemaster buses: at no extra cost than hybrid buses.
  • £50 million congestion busting fund: to tackle worst traffic and accident blackspots.
  • C-charge: never bring in a London-wide congestion charge or £25 gas guzzler tax.
  • Free travel across network for all over-sixties: reversing a Labour decision to increase qualifying age to 65, and will lobby for peak-time OAP concessions on suburban rail network.
  • Cycling: triple the number of cycle superhighways and extend the Boris bike hire scheme.
  • Thames crossing: feasibility study into pedestrian bridge crossing Thames between Vauxhall and Chelsea.

No radical moves — more ‘steady as she goes’

Commentary by Tony Travers

The key message of Boris Johnson’s transport manifesto is “steady as she goes”. The document is not a radical plan to change the way Londoners travel, but more a long list of work in progress and a commitment to carry on with existing investments.

The most radical proposal is a demand that the Mayor take control of commuter railways in the capital. Otherwise, promises are of the “crackdown on dangerous rickshaws” variety. A “Report It” system for potholes and the Roads Blackspot Fund would doubtless do some good, but they are hardly a radical intervention. A task force to look at the entire roads system is a good idea, though the words on the page disguise the difficulty of getting the boroughs — which run most London roads — to fall into line with any recommendations.

A new river crossing in east London, driverless Underground trains and continued Tube upgrades have all been announced before. The Mayor inverts Ken Livingstone’s fares cut policy into the suggestion that his challenger would take £1.14 billion out of transport spending, leading to lower investment and/or bus service cuts. The manifesto claims the Tube is “more reliable than at any time in its history”, which must surely be as powerful a metaphor for Boris Johnson’s optimistic personality as anything else he could possibly say.

Tony Travers is director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics.

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