Reeves: I Opposed Previous Airport Expansion Because People Weren’t Flying During Covid
Reeves is on a long morning media round defending her growth projects reset speech yesterday. She was asked on BBC Breakfast why she previously opposed the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport in 2020. She said at the time that expansion would:
“significantly increase air and noise pollution in the area around the airport and undermine vital efforts to ensure that Leeds upholds its commitment to become a carbon neutral city by 2030. There is also the risk that a potential increase in passengers…would exacerbate existing issues with traffic congestion and vehicle emissions. With the ongoing climate emergency, we need to invest in alternative carbon-friendly modes of transport which cause less damage to our environment.”
Reeves’ justification for her NIMBY position is a little different now:
“So that was in the pandemic when people weren’t really flying a lot has changed since then including how aeroplanes fly and including sustainable aviation fuel and as that evidence changes I think it is right to look again at airport expansion… if plans came forward again at Leeds Bradford I would support expansion but during the pandemic people weren’t flying.”
The Chancellor also said Heathrow’s expansion would be completed by 2035. Did she think the pandemic would go on for a decade?
A decade is highly ambitious – Reeves says the government expects a planning application from Heathrow this summer and a Development Consent Order to come within the Parliament thanks to relaxed planning rules. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warns the public not to expect planes to fly until 2050 thanks to the threat of constant protests and legal filings. The blockers do have a way with these things…
