BAA has accepted that plans for a third runway will be scrapped if the Conservatives win the next General Election (1). Senior BAA figures have also told the Tories the company will cease to fight for the third runway if they form the next government (2). Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats gave have said that a third runway will not go ahead if they win the Election. At the Conservative Party Conference last week Shadow Aviation Minister Julian Brazier confirmed that the pledge to scrap Heathrow expansion would form a key plank of the Party’s manifesto.
Although BAA has now accepted that the third runway is likely to be scrapped next year, it is still urging politicians not to close the door for ever on the possibility of expansion at Heathrow.
John Stewart, Chair of HACAN, the campaign group which has been fighting the third runway, said: “The champagne is still on ice but this really does look like the end of the road for the third runway. It will be virtually impossible for BAA to bring it back in five or ten year’s time. It doesn’t have popular support now and it will have even less then. Climate change and rising oil prices are likely to knock new runways for six.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
(1). A General Election needs to be held by June next year.
(2). The story first appeared in today’s Sunday Times
For further information:
John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650