“Concerns about air quality at Heathrow have given David Cameron an excuse to postpone, yet again, a decision on whether to expand it,” says The Times. The prime minister’s first promise was to veto a third runway at Heathrow, “no ifs, no buts”. His second (following the three-year, £15m Davies inquiry, which recommended expanding Heathrow), was to reach a final decision by the end of 2015. It now looks as if he is going to “break the second, in order to wait until after the London mayoral election next May to break the first”.
Cameron wants to avoid having the Tory mayoral candidate for London, Zac Goldsmith, resign from the House of Commons before the election because of his vehement opposition to expansion at Heathrow. Meanwhile, he has given “renewed hope” to Gatwick, which has “cranked” up its PR machine and is trumpeting its busiest-ever November, says the Financial Times.
He has to stop this “unforgivable” dithering. He has been given plenty of options and plenty of chances to act.