Greenpeace welcoming the opening of the new international terminal at St Pancras last year © Will Rose/Greenpeace
Almost a year ago to the day, we went along to St Pancras to welcome the opening of the new international terminal with an enormous Yes! banner. Our point was of course that the UK doesn't need new runways, we need new high speed rail links; then, as now, there were at least 100,000 flights a year between Heathrow and destinations easily reachable by train.
Since then, the Tories have not only opposed the third runway at Heathrow, they've also warned companies that they "should be very, very careful" about getting involved in any contract for a third runway as the Tories were "absolutely determined" to stop the project.
And, at last night's parliamentary debate on Heathrow (big thanks to everyone who came along, by the way!), they went a step further, coming out against "mixed mode" - a way of increasing airport capacity (and emissions) without building new runways.
Around 150 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion against Heathrow expansion and in support of high speed rail. Make sure your MP is one of them »
The Conservatives have garnered a fair bit of publicity over their bold opposition. Less visible - but equally bold and politically important - are the rebel Labour MPs who refuse to toe the party line on Heathrow any longer.
53 Labour MPs (and counting) have thrown their weight behind new high speed rail links for the UK and signed an an early day motion (EDM) opposing the third runway at Heathrow:
That this House urges the Government to rethink its plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport and to give full consideration to alternative solutions; regrets the Government's heavy reliance on data supplied by the BAA in assessing the case for expansion and notes the likely forthcoming break up of BAA's ownership of three of London's airports following the investigation by the Competition Committee; believes that the consultation paper Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport was deeply flawed, as it paid insufficient regard to the costs of air and noise pollution in the surrounding areas and the commitment to curb carbon dioxide emissions to tackle climate change; regrets the fact that provisions to improve high speed rail lines from Heathrow to major cities have not been fully explored, along with the potential of other UK airports to handle more long haul flights; and urges the Government to initiate a consultation on a new national planning policy statement on the theme of airports and high speed rail.
At the moment, more MPs from Labour have signed the EDM than from any other party - even though Labour is the only major party to support the third runway. Interesting times...
