Henry Brooks Adams, the eminent American man of letters, once said: “Practical politics consists in ignoring facts,” writes John Barrington Carver. It remains to be seen whether the Department of Transport’s new aviation policy to be published next month continues to ignore the fact that Heathrow is no longer fit for purpose as a main European hub and as a gateway to future UK economic expansion.
The Government made it clear in its election manifesto that it would overturn the Labour government’s decision to permit a third runway. It made sense for them to do so politically in view of the important West London voters who live under the Heathrow flight paths. It is not as if the Government have not had sufficient facts about the economic pitfalls in opposing a third runway. Independent studies, industry experts and business leaders have all provided evidence and support for a third runway.
In 2006 the independent Oxford Economics Forecasting report (the Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK) warned about Heathrow’s lack of capacity compared to its European rivals. Oxford Economics will shortly issue an updated report, which, it’s understood, will underline the economic damage that Heathrow’s lack of capacity is causing the UK economy.
Furthermore, this week two Sunday newspapers carried letters to the Government from more than 100 business leaders, trade unionists and MPs calling on the Government to reconsider its opposition.
However, the Coalition Government has rejected these and other current calls on the basis of the environmental impact it would have. Opposition to a third runway was an original key to the coalition alliance; also given that “practical politics tend to ignore the facts” and that keeping key constituency voters sweet comes high on any politician’s agenda, Heathrow expansion looks very unlikely indeed to be part of the new Department of Transport policy.
The impasse may be broken however. The British Airports Authority, which own Heathrow, has indicated that, if as expected, the Department of Transport’s forthcoming aviation policy fails to provide a solution to the London area capacity problem, particularly at Heathrow, they will mount a legal challenge to the Government. Should that be successful, it would put renewed pressure on the Government to reconsider the facts rather than ignore them and for them to accept that benefits would accrue to “UK Limited” from a competitive and less crowded Heathrow.
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