Heathrow’s third runway lingers on

The debate over the third runway at Heathrow Airport has again hit the headlines recently after a Conservative member appeared to tell one of his constituents that the issue would be “revisited” after the upcoming elections.

In the letter written by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the shadow international development minister, he was said to have written he was fully aware of the damage that not building a third runway at Heathrow could do to international air travel for Britain.

Only hours after the letter was made public Mr Clifton-Brown made a comment which he said would clarify what was meant in his letter.

“The party line is that there will be no third runway at Heathrow. What I believe is irrelevant. I am a member of David Cameron’s front bench and that is his policy,” Clifton-Brown said. However a statement read out later on his behalf stated clearly that under a Conservative government there would be no third runway whatsoever at Heathrow, and he did not mean to mislead anyone.

Opposition leaders were quick to pounce on the apparent part in the front bench of the Tory party saying their transport policy was in disarray.

“It would be a disgrace if the Conservatives went back on their pledge to scrap proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. This would be a betrayal of every statement made to residents living under the flight path and those who care about the environment and climate change,” said the MP leading the Liberal Democrat campaign against Heathrow expansion, Susan Kramer.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quote, for more information on this article please visit their website.