I am opposed to the expansion of Heathrow airport, which would increase air traffic and noise over Wimbledon, Merton and the rest of South London.

Heathrow is a large employer and important to the economy of South East England, but my serious concern comes from a climate perspective – there is no other way of putting this, we are in an emergency. What do we do in emergencies? We call in the resources to protect lives and pull together to get through that emergency. This happened in 1945 and it needs to happen now.

Labour’s provisional support for proposed Heathrow expansion has always been conditional on four well-established tests being met:

1. That increased capacity will be delivered
2. That we can meet our CO2 reduction commitments
3. Minimise noise and local environmental impact
4. Benefits of expansion felt across the regions of the U.K., not just the South East and London

It is my view that this is not possible. My colleagues in the Mayor London Sadiq Khan and John McDonnell – our next chancellor – agree with me too.

Andy McDonald said in June 2018

“Heathrow expansion is incompatible with our environmental and climate change obligations and cannot be achieved without unacceptable impacts on local residents. The improved connectivity to the regions of the UK cannot be guaranteed and there are unanswered questions on the costs to the public purse and the deliverability of the project.

 

“We support vital investment in our country’s transport infrastructure, but every investment must be tested on whether it provides real value for money and sustainability. A third runway at Heathrow fails this test.”