Rishi Sunak faces “electoral carnage” if the government rejects its climate advisers’ recommendations on halting airport expansion, a coalition of community groups have warned.
The prospect of a renewed political battle around airport growth in various parts of England has been reignited amid concern from campaigners at suggestions the government could reject the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) advice that all such expansions must be halted.
While such a move would lead to clashes in the courts, groups such as Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions (CAGNE) warned the Tories would lose more support in “blue wall” constituencies than they stood to gain from any pivot away from green policies.
Greenpeace also said it was confident that ignoring the CCC’s advice would make it easier to challenge airport expansion plans in the courts.
The government is preparing to reject the CCC finding that there should be no further airport expansions in Britain until a “capacity management framework” for aviation was developed, the Sunday Telegraph claimed. The prime minister is facing pressure from emboldened backbenchers eager to press home the case for airport growth to boost the UK economy.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said on Sunday: “Airport growth, and the aviation sector as a whole, has a key role to play in boosting our global connectivity and helping grow the economy. We remain supportive of airport expansion where it can be delivered in a sustainable way.”
But while hostility to London’s ultra-low emission zone might have been key to the Tories winning the recent Uxbridge byelection, the party was warned that a temptation to sacrifice climate policies on other fronts would cause a backlash.
“Rather than Uxbridge, they should be looking at what happened in the local elections recently where you saw a surge in Tory councillors losing their seats and being replaced by Lib Dems, Greens and others as a result of very real concerns about the climate crisis,” said Sally Pavey of CAGNE, who added that MPs in corresponding Westminster seats should be “very nervous”.
Tory-held seats where airport expansion could be a factor among some voters include East Surrey, where a majority of just over 24,000 is being defended by Claire Coutinho, who was appointed by Sunak last week as the new energy secretary.
Coutinho, whose constituency is also home to airport workers, is in a potentially difficult position, as is another minister, Jeremy Quin, whose Horsham constituency also faces what campaigners say will be more noise pollution and congestion, with a negative effect on amenities.
Both ministers were among MPs who wrote to Gatwick in June to ask for a delay in its submission to the government’s Planning Inspectorate on a new “northern runway” until further detailed analysis had been provided to local councils.
Legal challenges have already failed against plans to expand airports in the Bristol and Southampton areas. Expansion projects are also under way at Heathrow and London City.
Gatwick formally submitted plans in June for a £2.2bn second runway, as the airport looks to double its passenger numbers to 75 million a year. The airport said the planned runway would generate 14,000 jobs and bring a £1bn annual boost to the region.
Paul Morozzo, a transport campaigner at Greenpeace, said: “The CCC’s latest advice, which the government must take into consideration in their decision-making, makes it far more difficult for them to give consent to any airport expansion plans in the UK. And, of course, if they ignore the law and make decisions without following due process, then their decisions are much easier to challenge in the courts.”
