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Heathrow

I have given up wondering why Ministers take the approach that they do. It is clear that there is no substance to their case, yet they pursue it. I have long since stopped wondering why they have gone down such a reckless route. Given the serious health and environmental impacts at stake, I find their attitude to the situation disgraceful. How can we trust Ministers who said that Heathrow expansion was sustainable, when we have seen the tactics they use and the evidence they have ignored in reaching their conclusions. The fact is that Heathrow expansion will leave many Londoners facing a toxic combination: more planes making more noise, causing more pollution; more cars clogging the roads, reducing air quality; and a public health risk that the Environment Agency says could lead to increased morbidity and mortality rates around the airport. Every day, I receive letters from constituents who are concerned about Heathrow expansion. They are worried and, as a resident who lives in Putney, I am worried. They believe that if we have all-day flights on a third runway, our part of London will become a place where families no longer want to bring up their children, and where people simply do not want to live. The noise will be so intolerable that I predict it will make people ill with its relentlessness. For my constituents, there will be no respite from aircraft noise ever again. It will be perpetual. In conclusion, the reality is that, economically, there are better alternatives to expansion. The economic benefits have been vastly overstated. Environmentally, expansion means more emissions and noise, and greater risks to health, not to mention safety. The Government are isolated on this issue, and Ministers must ask themselves what is more important—saving face and sticking with a bad decision, or having the courage to admit that this is wrong, and change course. It is time to listen to the 70,000 people, including my constituents, who responded with their grave concerns to the consultations. As far as they are concerned, with Heathrow, enough is enough.