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Topic: Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk
Posted by: Paul Pryce
Date/Time: 03/09/14 07:41:00

Here is the Boris article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11066917/Only-with-a-new-hub-airport-will-Britain-truly-take-off.html

It is his typical mix of dishonesty and exaggeration. The first four paragraphs contain verifiable falsehoods and I can't see how anybody could see it as a convincing argument for ignoring the conclusions of the Davies Commission.

We always need to come back to why Boris is promoting this scheme. He has no real interest in aviation but rather sees the issue as the launch pad for his leadership bid. The overwhelming opposition to Heathrow he refers to in the article will be led by him and, he hopes, will be backed by several London MPs who will ultimately nominate him to replace David Cameron.

He is cunning enough to recognise that there is a simple logic to what he is proposing. Heathrow should never have been built where it was and if we were starting from scratch we probably would be looking at the Thames Estuary. In the real world however, it makes no sense to spend £70-£90 billion on something of questionable economic value. A hub airport is one where people fly in on planes that pay no tax when they refuel, they pay no tax when they shop and the profits that derive from the landing fees go to a foreign owned company. Constructing an airport primarily to gain this sort of air traffic would be horrendously wasteful.

I don't really have any feel for the relative merits of Gatwick 2 and Heathrow 3 and am sure that there are many serious drawbacks for both but they remain the only viable choices for airport expansion. We shouldn't be manipulated into thinking otherwise by a mendacious and ambitious politician who has already spent millions of taxpayers' money promoting an alternative which is solely a platform for his own bid to lead the Tories.

Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 08:19:00 Will Watson
   Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 10:53:00 Vanessa Smith
   Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 18:23:00 Dave Robertson
      Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 20:32:00 Will Watson
         Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 20:36:00 Claire Moran
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 20:54:00 Will Watson
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 21:00:00 Claire Moran
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 21:17:00 Will Watson
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 21:18:00 Claire Moran
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 21:21:00 Will Watson
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 21:38:00 Claire Moran
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 07:41:00 Paul Pryce
                                 Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 08:31:00 Thomas Barry
         Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 23:28:00 Thomas Barry
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk02/09/14 23:43:00 Keith Iddon
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 08:19:00 Colin Jordan
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 09:42:00 Thomas Barry
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 09:49:00 Keith Iddon
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 09:57:00 Richard Greenhough
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 10:07:00 Colin Jordan
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Boris Island Sunk03/09/14 10:19:00 Keith Iddon

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