Justine Greening: Let's end this 'pub debate' over airport expansion

Not for turning: Justine Greening says all the known problems of a third runway at Heathrow are still in place

25 June 2012

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has accused airline bosses of engaging in a “pub style” debate about airport expansion — and said the Victorians would be better at planning airports.

In a hard-hitting interview, the Putney MP criticised the “piecemeal” decisions that have led to Britain’s aviation crisis. She said: “The Victorians-finished a railway in 1899 that we can still use today because they built in so much extra capacity.

“They constructed sewers under London that withstood a doubling of the size of the city, so that we are only now having to build the supersewer. By contrast in the aviation sector we have seen piecemeal decisions taken — and often not taken.

“I think the mistakes of the past have been characterised by piecemeal, ad hoc and often rushed decisions which ultimately have got us into a position today where there are really difficult decisions facing us.”

In a discussion with the Evening Standard, the Transport Secretary bluntly told backers of a third runway at Heathrow that she will not be bounced into another “quick fix” when she launches a major review of aviation strategy this summer.

Significantly, she pointed out that little is yet understood about Britain’s long-term needs and the third runway proposed at Heathrow may in fact not be enough — and said Britain may end up needing a hub airport with four runways, not three.

“We’ve got to get beyond this kind of pub-style debate we have had, where people have really chased headlines, to a more informed debate that will get us to a much better answer than we have had in the past,” she said.

Ms Greening’s comments come after pressure has mounted on the Conservatives to abandon their opposition to a third runway.

Two weeks ago in the Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron pointedly refused to rule out a change of heart after 2015. But Ms Greening, a long-standing opponent of such plans, made clear she is not for turning.

She denied that the urgent worry about economic growth had softened attitudes to a third runway. “I don’t think the mood has particularly changed,” she said.

Asked if she would resign if the Conservatives changed policy, Ms Greening did not give a direct answer. She said: “I don’t think any of the facts have changed in relation to the arguments for or against a third runway. The impact on people, on congestion, on air pollution are all still there.”

To critics such as Willie Walsh, whose company IAG owns British Airways and has warned about the shortage of

Heathrow slots to the fast-growing Bric economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China) she said the industry could free up more slots itself if it chose. “Key companies like BA are the ones who actually decide where the slots go every day,” she pointed out. “At the moment Heathrow has 41 slots to North America and just 14 in total to the Brics if you exclude Hong Kong.”

The Transport Secretary accused Colin Matthews, chief executive of Heathrow operator BAA, of failing to spell out longer-term needs.

“Obviously Colin Matthews will want to press for a third runway, but my job is to look beyond Colin’s perspective of the next 10 or 15 years. My job is to say ‘what do we need for the next 20, 30, 40 or 50 years?’ What if we realise we need a fourth runway? Where would that go at Heathrow?”

She insisted that Londoners, like her own constituents, who live under the Heathrow flightpath, will get their say: “Their voice in many respects has not been listened to quite so much.”

Crucially, she insisted that “cross-party consensus is very important”, referring to the fact that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are all currently against Heathrow expansion. Ms Greening refused to be drawn on rival schemes, including proposals for extra runways at Gatwick or Stansted, plus Boris Johnson’s plan for a four-runway hub in the Thames Estuary.

Her mantra, however, is the need to think long-term. In the Eighties, people failed to foresee the advent of mass air travel and low-cost carriers so they ducked difficult decisions, she said. “I’m determined that we don’t fall into that trap again.”

Does she think a four-runway hub is necessary? She again questioned Heathrow’s suitability, saying a “third short runway” might turn out to be “a constraining scenario”, adding: “We can’t have people come up with solutions if they are not prepared to say how those solutions would adapt if we need more capacity than we currently think.

“This is not a consultation about a third runway. It is something far more fundamental about what our aviation needs are for the UK.”

She added: “The Victorians planned ahead — now we should plan ahead for the aviation sector.”

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