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Heathrow

It is a great pleasure to take part in this debate. We have heard some high-quality contributions in which the common factor, in almost every case, has been opposition to the expansion of Heathrow; in fact, I have heard only one Back-Bench speech in favour. I agree with the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews)—if there were a vote on the proposal, I would very much expect it to be defeated. I have always been a pragmatist as regards Heathrow. I am not necessarily opposed to its expansion, but I would always look to see whether the net overall effect on the environment was neutral or positive before supporting that proposal. I used to be an admirer of BAA. In the early 1990s, I used to fly an awful lot, transatlantically and domestically within the United States, and I was always impressed by how BAA managed its airports and its customers. Regrettably, those days are long gone. For me, the fading gold and black graphics in BAA airports sum up what has happened to the company: it has not really achieved anything since its great heyday in the early ’90s. Heathrow brings some benefits to my constituency—I have met quite a few constituents who work at the airport; my constituents use it a great deal for the purposes of air travel; and one of the reasons why Hammersmith and Fulham has been attractive to businesses over the years is its location between Heathrow airport and central London. Nevertheless, the airport has become a major issue in my constituency, but I try to approach the whole question rationally. However, having considered all the benefits and disbenefits, I have come to believe that, on balance, the current set of proposals is most detrimental to my constituency. My local council is awaiting the result of the official consultation, but it decided to send out its own consultation document. So far, some 4,000 residents have responded. Incredibly, 93 per cent. of those responses are against expansion. Only 6 per cent. are in favour, with a mere 1 per cent. undecided. I praise my local council, which had a change of policy when the Conservatives took over in 2006. It joined the 2M group and became very active in campaigning against Heathrow expansion. The proposals would have seven main effects on my constituency: extra flights, new flight paths overhead, noise pollution, air pollution, safety implications, night flights and the impact of a larger Heathrow on public and private transport in west London. On extra flights, the case has already been made. There is talk of an increase to 480,000 or 500,000, or perhaps to 700,000. On new flight paths, in Fulham, where both flight paths go over, the loss of runway alternation on the two existing runways would mean aircraft coming in overhead for a much longer part of the day, as there would be no changeover at 3 pm. Aircraft could join the new approach flight path for the third runway over Fulham. Because of the reduced length of the third runway, it is likely that most of the bigger, noisier planes would come in over Fulham using the existing full-length runways. In Hammersmith, which is not currently directly under either flight path, the approach to the third runway would add hugely to noise there, with perhaps an aircraft every 90 seconds or so. That would impact on people who generally are not directly affected by aircraft noise. The ending of runway alternation together with the addition of the third runway, or even their separate use, would be a total disaster for my constituents. Families living below would endure noise for 18 hours a day rather than nine, as at present. On noise pollution, an estimated 1 million people live, work and go to school in west London and the Heathrow area, and they are already exposed to noise levels that are above the limits for annoyance laid down by the World Health Organisation. Research shows that noise pollution from planes dominates areas up to 13 miles away from Heathrow, which would include Hammersmith and Fulham. On air pollution, we have already heard that Government are in breach of the air quality laws and have been threatened with fines by the European Commission. Indeed, there was an article in today’s edition of the Evening Standard about the Commission becoming active and interested in the subject again. I am genuinely worried for my children, and my constituents’ children, who have to live in an environment where the air quality is as poor as it is in London. London has the highest annual average level of nitrogen dioxide of any capital city, not only in western Europe, but eastern Europe as well. An increase in air movement would inevitably be disastrous for our air quality. The Government say that extra aircraft and road traffic will not necessarily prevent them from meeting their air quality targets around the airport. But that is because they have assumed that a new generation of aircraft will be cleaner than those currently flying and that road vehicles will be far less polluting. If technological improvements in engine design and fuels are not as successful as the Government hope, pollution levels will be higher in the immediate vicinity of the airport, and further afield, including in Hammersmith and Fulham. If the Government are wrong, the health and life expectancy of people all over west London will suffer. On safety, although Heathrow has a very good safety record, increasing the number of take-offs and landings over such densely populated areas can only increase the risk of a serious accident, especially when London already has some of the most complex airspace in the world. It is a bizarre system that has thousands of planes flying directly over this country’s largest conurbation and some of its most densely populated areas. The issue of night flights is ongoing, despite the Government having agreed to extend the cap until 2012. My hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) and I had a meeting with British Airways a couple of years ago, where it tried to explain why it needed night flights. It all related to the convenience of passengers, particularly those boarding planes in places such as Hong Kong and Singapore, who had to board a plane before midnight. If they could not arrive at 4, 5 or 6 am, they would have to arrive at 7 or 8 am, which would mean boarding a plane in Singapore or Hong Kong after midnight. That is clearly an inconvenience, but we are talking about having a sense of balance and proportion. We have to weigh up the convenience of those few hundred thousand passengers who board planes in Hong Kong or Singapore against the convenience of the millions of people under flight paths in west London or places such as Windsor. The Government have got it entirely wrong. On public and private transport in west London, it seems incredible that the Government might be proposing an increase in capacity at Heathrow without considering an increase in capacity in our public transport links. Earlier this year, I had a meeting with the managers of the Piccadilly line in which I tried to lobby them to have the line stop at Ravenscourt Park and/or Stamford Brook in my constituency. I was persuaded that there was a strong argument against my proposal, partly because of capacity on the Piccadilly line, the usage of which has gone up enormously since the millennium—about a 50 per cent. increase, with the line now running at 97 per cent. of capacity. That has occurred despite the introduction of the Heathrow Express, which might have been expected to relieve the Piccadilly line to some extent. We have to do something about public and private transport provision because there will be a detrimental impact on the working lives of my constituents who are trying to board the Piccadilly line if it is already full. I represent more tube passengers than any other Member of Parliament. Finally, on some of the solutions, I agree with the approach of considering high-speed rail. Every year or so I buy the ““Thomas Cook European Railway Timetable””. That is not because I am a trainspotter, but because I genuinely love going by rail. Every year I see in the map at the front of the book the expanding network of high-speed rail lines going through other countries, such as France, Spain and Germany. High-speed rail is very much the future for this country. I commend our policy on that, and I am very much opposed to the proposals on Heathrow expansion.