Lord True, Leader of Richmond Council, has spoken out against Heathrow and the pledge that they would “ban” night flights, should the airport be expanded.
Lord True says that David Cameron must keep his commitment to the people of London that there will be no third runway at Heathrow.
Mr Cameron made his now infamous “no ifs, no buts, no third runway” statement in Richmond in October 2009 when he needed the votes of the people of Richmond to help him become UK Prime Minister.
Lord True made clear his opinion that Heathrow’s claim that it would ban night flights was a sham and cannot be believed.
“Most people would not consider being woken up at 5.15am rather than 4.30 a “ban on night flights,” Lord True said. “This so-called pledge falls short of what the Davies Commission requests and the Heathrow PR men simply cannot be believed. If they can stop pre-5.30am flights, why don’t they do it now? Rather than spending billions of pounds doing it?
“They cannot comply with EU air quality limits and their ‘jam’ promises are worthless. The recent Volkswagen scandal has only highlighted public concern about the issue and if people’s health comes first – big Heathrow is dead in the water.”
Last year the Airports Commission recommended that a third runway should be built at Heathrow. Since then the Government has spent months deliberating – a process that has cost the tax-payers millions.
Lord True, added:
“Put plain and simply, this is a feeble emotional bribe from Heathrow. They have cherry-picked one of the many valid reasons against expansion and made token alterations to their original proposals. Londoners should not be fooled by the paid hands of big foreign business. Seeing these off will be the first big test for our new Mayor – Sadiq Khan.
“An extra runway will mean more planes. It will still damage the environment and cause much distress to millions of people in West London.
“We have now waited long enough for this decision. We have already made our feelings clear to the Government. Should they rule in favour of a Heathrow expansion – we will fight it in the courts.
“I say to Mr Cameron – hundreds of thousands of Londoners remember your promise – “no ifs, no buts,” and your personal commitment to our air quality. We expect our Prime Minister to keep his promise, listen to the people of London and say NO to any expansion of the airport today!”
