Responding to the news that Rachel Reeves is backing the expansion of Heathrow Airport, Green Party MP, Sian Berry MP said:
The Chancellor talked about the ‘costs of irresponsibility’ but expanding Heathrow in the face of a climate emergency is the definition of irresponsible.
Worst still, we’re also expecting formal planning decisions from ministers on Gatwick and Luton airport expansion, which the Chancellor pre-empted today. Giving these permissions in the month before vital new advice is expected from the Climate Change Committee, today’s speech is nothing short of reckless.
The carbon cost of expanding Heathrow, Luton, and Gatwick together will cancel out the benefits of Labour’s keystone clean energy plan, making Net Zero minister Ed Miliband’s task almost impossible.
The Chancellor’s stated goal is ‘raising living standards in every part of the UK’ but more and bigger airports will serve only the very richest aviation bosses and the most frequent flyers whose wealth doesn’t help people’s daily lives get better.
Tackling inequality and building a greener future should go hand in hand. That must mean investment in warmer homes, green energy and the local transport people use every day, not these bleak proposals.
3 comments:
Advocating for environmental issues can be quite difficult, especially when it seems to lack significance in the current political climate. The Labour government appears to be prioritizing other matters over the urgent need for climate action and environmental stewardship. So, what steps can we take in this situation? In our democratic system, it is vital to connect with the public, earning their support and votes, which in turn provides the opportunity to implement what is deemed necessary for the greater good. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that every government has a profound obligation to act in the best interests of the economy, the nation, and the environment. We are currently facing the dire and concerning repercussions of ignoring these responsibilities for too long, which has undeniably played a role in the escalating crisis of climate change.
Was not the HS2 project supposed to be good for growth? Is it on time? Is it with in Budget? Will it ever deliver what the Politicians promised?
"Rachel Reeves was facing criticism on Saturday night as it was confirmed that a report she cited as evidence that a third runway at Heathrow would boost the UK economy was commissioned by the airport itself.
Experts and green groups also challenged Reeves’s view that advances in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) had been a “gamechanger” that would substantially limit the environmental damage of flying, saying the claims were overblown and did not stand up to scrutiny."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/01/reevess-heathrow-third-runway-report-was-commissioned-by-london-airport
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