Government Stalls

UK plc needs a sound strategy for aviation but the government has stalled the process of locating one. Instead of taking a decision, it has set up a commission to examine the options and report after the next election. This is the oldest political trick in the book, putting short-term political expediency before the long-term planning needs of the country. It also makes David Cameron’s pledge to be ‘the greenest government ever’ look increasingly threadbare.

 

‘Green’ was never going to be an easy objective — when policy has to be economically literate and commercially viable — but green means giving equal weight to the needs of society and effective stewardship of the environment.

Aviation policy is not about this electoral term, or the next, it has to be about the nature and shape of aviation through the course of the 21^st century. It is much more than a decision about extra runways serving the South East of England; aviation policy requires a complete reappraisal of aviation and its role in society and the economy. We have all the facts and data needed to make a decision about coherent policy that deals with people’s aspirations, the needs of the economy and the pressing need to control emissions.

It can be done; let’s do it.