Tories disown Thames airport on 'Boris Island'

THE Tories today poured cold water over Boris Johnson's plan for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers revealed in a letter to a Liberal Democrat MP that the party's high command did not support the proposal.

Mr Johnson aims to replace Heathrow as the UK's main airport with up to six runways on a man-made island -dubbed Boris Island - two miles off Sheerness in Kent.

In a letter to Lib-Dem MP Norman Baker, Ms Villiers wrote: "With regard to media debate on the possibility of a new airport in the Thames Estuary, this is not an option at which the Conservative party is looking.

"Boris Johnson is considering a range of ideas relevant to transport and aviation links to our capital city but this is his own initiative."

Instead of a third Heathrow runway, the Tories want a new high speed rail link connecting London with the Midlands and the North.

Central Office insiders suggested there was some concern that Mr Johnson's Thames Estuary plans could put off Tory voters in the area.

The plan has been dismissed as unworkable by environmentalists and Kent residents. There are also questions over whether the Mayor has the jurisdiction to develop such a project outside the capital.

The British Air Transport Association, which represents airlines including British Airways and Virgin, also indicated it did not support the proposal. However, the Mayor this week announced that Douglas Oakervee, the lead engineer behind the construction of Hong Kong International Airport and chairman of the Crossrail project, will oversee a feasibility study. He will not be paid for his work.

Mr Johnson told the London Assembly: "It is our duty, when you look at the environmental catastrophe that would be occasioned by constructing a new runway at Heathrow, to look at all available alternatives. The environmental implications of a new airport in the Thames Estuary depend entirely on where that airport were to be situated and the scale of that airport. "

However, Lib-Dem Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said: "Once again [the Mayor is] coming out with an option that isn't going to get funding. This airport is the most unrealistic proposal I have heard."