Aviation Security

James Berry Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

As of yesterday, when we took the decision, we had already had contacts at both ambassadorial and ministerial level in some places with our counterparts in other countries. They will each take their own decisions about what is necessary, but we are clear about what is right for our citizens. Those countries elsewhere in Europe and in the world will now be contemplating what the best steps are in terms of their own citizens.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

As this is an evolving threat, will my right hon. Friend confirm that countries and airports could be added or removed from the list that the Government have published, should the British intelligence services so recommend?

[Chris Grayling]

Obviously, we will keep this and other security issues in relation to our aviation sector under review. We will take whatever steps are necessary to provide that protection. As I say, I hope that this new set of measures will prove to be temporary, but first and foremost our focus will be on the security and safety of our passengers. Therefore, that will be the deciding factor in what we do in the future.

Heathrow Airport Expansion: Elmbridge

James Berry Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2017 Westminster Hall

[Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the effect of Heathrow airport expansion on Elmbridge.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Nuttall, and I am grateful that the Minister has taken the time to be here. This issue is very important for my local constituency, with the publication last month of the Government’s draft national policy statement on Heathrow. I will take this opportunity to speak about the impact of the proposed airport expansion on my constituency.

I should say at the outset that I live under one of the flightpaths, so I appreciate at first hand the issues that raises. Constituents who live in neighbourhoods in certain parts of the constituency particularly feel the impact, especially those in Molesey and parts of Walton-on-Thames. It is true that the impact is felt variably in different parts of the constituency. Residents in those communities are especially concerned about the current operations in and out of Heathrow and, naturally, the implications that a third runway might have on their quality of life. I will set out some of those concerns, and I would be grateful if the Minister addressed as many of them as possible. However, given the number of questions I have and the time available, I gently and respectfully suggest that he takes the opportunity to follow up the debate with a letter, if he feels unable to address any points of detail today. I hope that is a reasonable request.

I support the expansion of Heathrow airport in principle because I recognise its importance for the future competitiveness of the UK economy. Ideally, I would have preferred both Heathrow and Gatwick to be expanded, partly because of the economic case, but also to spread some of the impact. Nevertheless, I recognise that the economic case for expanding Heathrow is strong, both nationally and locally. Heathrow airport directly employs 1,000 residents in Elmbridge. An expanded Heathrow would not only guarantee those jobs, but create more local employment opportunities. It is welcome that, as part of the expansion plans, Heathrow has promised to create 5,000 new apprenticeships around the airport, which will create additional skilled employment opportunities for the communities that will benefit from that.

The Airports Commission estimated that the third runway expansion will create 77,000 jobs in the local area by 2030. In that local context, will the Minister set out what private and public sector measures he anticipates will be taken to improve transport links to support the increased footfall through Heathrow? Will he explain how local road and rail infrastructure will be reinforced to cope with the estimated additional capacity? Surrey and Elmbridge, in particular, are already under strain and we need to know in advance how we will deal with any additional congestion.

Beyond the local economic benefits, the longer-term boost to the UK economy and our international competitiveness that will accompany expansion is also highly persuasive. The Airports Commission estimated that the third runway will deliver a £61 billion boost to the British economy. In particular, it will increase connections to the fastest-growing markets in the world, improve our domestic connectivity and greatly expand our capacity for international trade. That is vital for our future prosperity, so expanding Heathrow offers the clearest signals that Britain is open for business, open to the world and, as the Prime Minister vowed, intent on becoming a global leader in free trade.

That is the economic good news, but I also hope that if expansion is delivered properly and carefully—with all the assiduous care that the Minister is well regarded and reputed for—it can also improve the wellbeing of Elmbridge residents, particularly those of us who have to live with the constant noise overhead. On a personal note, as a constituency MP I have been contacted by hundreds upon hundreds of concerned residents. I have hosted a range of public meetings, particularly in Molesey, where there is enormous frustration and concern. I should say that that goes beyond the understandable irritation of middle-class residents who prize a peaceful suburban life.

Let me give an illustration of what that can mean—this example is particularly troubling. At one surgery a constituent came to me whose sleep is so disrupted that he suffers from anxiety attacks, and who eventually even lost his job. We are not talking about dealing with tolerable levels of noise—levels that people can or should reasonably be expected to endure. Many are fearful, not just based on current practice, of what expansion will bring.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

I share a constituency border with my hon. Friend. He will know that there is not a flightpath on the border, but residents are disturbed by stacking. Does he understand the concerns felt by people at the other end of my constituency—in Kingston and New Malden—about the prospect of a whole new flightpath, where there is not one already, and the disturbance that will cause?

[Mr Raab]

As ever, my hon. Friend is a doughty champion for his constituents. The stacking issue is very important. I raised it in the Chamber on 2 February and, as he will know, the Transport Secretary gave me a clear set of assurances; I will ask a few questions about the detail of that later. As ever, my hon. Friend is absolutely bang on point. For me, the important thing is that those affected know what they can reasonably expect once a third runway is open for business. That will not only provide residents with a reasonable level of expectation, but mean that they know how to hold Heathrow and the Government to account for the assurances that are being offered, particularly on noise and air quality.

When the draft policy statement was published on 2 February, the Transport Secretary reassured me in the Chamber that there would be binding limits on noise and air quality, independent verification of both, a change of policy away from concentrated flightpaths and changes to the current stacking of flights, which my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (James Berry) mentioned. Those high-level assurances were warmly received by my constituents and by the communities as a whole, so I thank the Minister and the Secretary of State for those. My critical task now, as the constituency MP, is to follow up those high-level assurances and nail down what the specifics will mean in practice and what the tangible impact will be for people living in Elmbridge. That is why I secured this debate. Although we might not get all the answers today, I hope that the Minister will consider this to be the start of a fruitful dialogue over the months ahead.

As a condition for expansion, we have the Government’s commitment to enforce new and legally binding noise targets on Heathrow. The Government also propose the creation of an independent body to monitor noise levels. I sought that in previous correspondence with the Ministers, so it is very welcome. It helps to build confidence that those high-level assurances will materialise at a more tangible level.

The independent commission on civil aviation noise—ICCAN—will be set up within the Civil Aviation Authority. That should allow it to become operational quickly and enable it to benefit from the expertise of its parent institution. The creation of the body can help reassure my residents, who have had their trust in the airport rather dented by the 2014 flightpath trials and Heathrow’s inability to monitor accurately the volume or trajectory of local flights. I say that notwithstanding my intense engagement with Heathrow at a very high level and its desire to get this right for the local community. However, I suspect that this has clearly not worked to the satisfaction of Heathrow, and certainly not to that of my constituents, so we need to take that forward.

ICCAN’s credibility will be critical to achieving its objective of holding the airport to account on aircraft noise. I am also reassured that one of its key principles is to help to build up community engagement and understanding. However, it would be useful to get greater clarity and detail on the legally binding noise performance targets. A legally binding noise envelope would be better still, so I urge Transport Ministers to consider that approach, which could allow a reduction in stipulated noise levels over time. What statutory role will ICCAN have in monitoring noise levels, and what penalties will it be able to impose on the airport if noise targets are not met? My constituents will expect an effective verification mechanism in which ICCAN is more than just an advisory body and in which it has teeth to ensure compliance.

I must also raise the plans for future flightpaths around the expanded airport. There is a clear opportunity to shift away from the rather arbitrary and unfair current policy of concentrated flightpaths and towards a policy of dispersal over a wider geographical area. I have looked at this issue, thought about it and talked to my community about it, and I always come back to the conclusion that it is wrong for a small but significant minority of residents to bear so disproportionately the brunt of flights overhead. The case for a more equitable dispersal is overwhelming.

The Government are committed to lowering the overall noise impact, so we should see a reduction of it in Elmbridge. In fact, the Airports Commission concluded that by 2030 fewer people would be affected by noise than at present, because the greater flexibility that additional airport capacity will permit in aircraft operations should allow better management of overall noise impacts. I ask the Minister when he will commit to a policy of dispersal and what that will mean for Elmbridge residents in practical terms.

When I raised noise levels with the Transport Secretary in the Chamber on 2 February, he indicated that the forthcoming changes to the stacking arrangements south-west of London for Heathrow would improve the experience for my local residents. That was a hugely welcome and important positive assurance to take back to my constituents. I would be grateful if the Minister gave us further details on what those changes will be—or, at least, when we will know what they will be—and how they will reduce noise levels for my constituents.

I would like to move beyond noise levels to the important issue of air quality. I am assured by the Civil Aviation Authority that an increase in flights would have no direct impact on air quality in Elmbridge. That is welcome news, but how will that assurance be achieved? What limits on air quality will be put in place to deliver it and how will they be independently verified?

There are also concerns about the indirect effects of the expansion and the third runway on air quality. In particular, the increase in road traffic caused by a growth in the number of passengers travelling to and from the airport risks a negative impact on local air pollution. I note that Heathrow has committed to ensuring that there is no increase in road usage related to the airport and the expansion, and to expanding public transport to mitigate the extra road use. That will be important for reducing the airport’s carbon footprint and ensuring that our existing road network is not put under undue strain from an even greater volume of traffic, as I mentioned earlier.

However, it is vital that there is proper independent verification of that rather high-level and, if I may say so, abstract commitment. Unless the Government have a better means of achieving that—I am open-minded about the means—I suggest, as one possibility, that the Environment Agency be mandated and resourced to monitor the full environmental impact of the expanded airport, including from the additional volume of traffic in surrounding areas such as mine.

[James Berry]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on behalf of his constituents. Does he agree that the likelihood of a family of four with all their bags using public transport instead of a family car or taxi is minimal, unless there is a massive increase in the quality of public transport in both our constituencies?

[Mr Raab]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point in his habitually eloquent and convincing way. If the commitment is to be met, there will need to be a step change in investment in the means of getting people out of their cars. We both live in our constituencies and we know what the traffic is like, particularly around peak times and rush hour. If the commitment is not met, I fear that traffic will come to a standstill. We have to avoid that. That high-level commitment has been made, and I am interested to know what the means of achieving it will be.

As I said, I would like to see the Environment Agency or another body mandated to monitor the full environmental impact of the airport, and not just from the extra flights overhead, but from the additional congestion. That is an aspect of the Heathrow air quality debate that I do not think has been fully addressed in the draft national policy statement. I would be grateful if the Minister at least sought to address it today and if he assured my residents that Heathrow will be held to its promise that expansion will lead to no increase in local road traffic.

The assurances that I seek today, or something equivalent, are sorely needed for the people and communities living in the vicinity of Heathrow. I am certainly not trying to stop or scupper the expansion; I want to work with Heathrow. I pay tribute to its director of external affairs, Nigel Milton, who has been absolutely terrific at engaging. I welcome the positive assurances that I have had from the Transport Secretary and other Ministers. The assurances that I seek on behalf of my community are reasonable and proportionate, and they will be necessary if we are to carry local communities with us as we proceed with this major and vital infrastructure project. With that in mind, I must say that it is regrettable that the Government’s local consultations will not include a public meeting in my constituency, given the problems that we had with the flightpath trials in 2014. I respectfully but firmly urge the Minister to take that point away and to think about the impression created in communities such as mine that already feel that their concerns have not been properly taken on board.

In summary, before I can credibly vote for the expansion of Heathrow, which I am well disposed to do because I support it as a matter of principle, I need to be able to give my constituents a more detailed and concrete reassurance, based on the Government’s proposed mitigation package, that the roads in Elmbridge will not be clogged up; that noise levels will be limited and independently monitored; that we will move towards dispersal of flightpaths and overhaul the current stacking arrangements or find equivalent means to reduce residents’ experience of the disproportionate noise levels currently felt in places such as Molesey and Walton; and that local air quality will not deteriorate as a result of the extra flights or the extra vehicles that may grace our roads, because there will be prescribed and independently monitored limits to ensure that that does not happen. Those are reasonable, common-sense assurances that I seek on behalf of reasonable constituents with common sense who have constructively expressed their reservations and concerns. The sooner the Government can provide the detail that I seek, the sooner we can provide the answers to my constituents in Elmbridge and give them the reassurances that they need to get behind the expansion of Heathrow airport.

Heathrow Expansion: Surface Access

James Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2017 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Olney]

I thank the hon. Lady for once again underlining the importance of making available these plans to the public in order that a meaningful consultation can take place.

Details of these plans may well affect how people respond to the consultation. One project being discussed as part of the surface access plans is the southern rail access project to improve rail links to Heathrow airport. My constituents living in Mortlake and Barnes will be particularly interested to know whether rail upgrade plans will increase the length of time that level crossing gates block the roads in their area. One current estimate is that Mortlake is currently blocked for three quarters of an hour, every hour, to allow trains to cross. Residents are entitled to know whether the plans for Heathrow expansion mean that level crossing gates will be down for even longer. That will surely affect how they respond to the consultation.

Of particular interest to those who live not only in my constituency and the surrounding areas but much further afield is the cost of surface access upgrade and how that is to be funded. In the absence thus far of any detailed figures from the Department for Transport, our best guess of the cost of surface access upgrades is that provided by Transport for London, which estimates the cost at between £15 billion and £20 billion. Heathrow has committed to meeting just £1 billion of that cost, leaving a black hole of between £14 billion and £19 billion. I have twice challenged the Secretary of State to tell me how that shortfall will be funded, but both times he has responded only to say that he does not accept TfL’s figures. That is all very well, and I eagerly await the publication of his Department’s own estimates, as requested earlier, but he has failed to answer the key part of the question about who will pay for that cost.

The business case for Heathrow expansion rests on delivering £61 billion of benefit to the UK over 60 years. That number has already been substantially revised downwards from Heathrow’s previous estimate of £147 billion over 60 years. If it should be proved that up to £19 billion of costs have not been brought into consideration, the business case for expanding Heathrow weakens even further. Should Heathrow airport be required to fund the bulk of the surface access upgrade itself, it may find it difficult to interest investors and shareholders in its revised business case. If the costs of funding upgraded surface access should fall to the taxpayer, that may affect the level of support that Heathrow expansion is currently enjoying around the country. The public are entitled to ask whether or not that additional £19 billion could be better spent elsewhere, which is why it is vital that these detailed plans are available before the end of the consultation period.

One other point I would like to make is about freight. There are warm words in the national policy statement about increasing the number of cycling and walking journeys made to the airport and of moving passenger journeys on to public transport.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

Does the hon. Lady agree that they are indeed warm words because, as anyone who has children knows—I do not, actually—a family of four will undoubtedly drive or get a taxi to the airport and not use a cycle or a train?

[Sir Edward Leigh (in the Chair)]

Order. Just as a matter of courtesy, hon. Members wishing to intervene should arrive on time for the beginning of the debate.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Berry Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr John Hayes]

I have had meetings about that. I know how closely the hon. Gentleman has worked with colleagues from across the House to promote the interests of his constituents and others. I will happily have more meetings. It is a challenging matter, but we must get it right. The hon. Gentleman is right that we do not want unintended consequences, so I will of course be delighted to meet.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the proposals for Crossrail 2? If there are to be any delays, will he tell us what can be done about overcrowding on our trains, such as the one I was on this morning, in the meantime?

[Chris Grayling]

I am waiting for Transport for London to deliver the business case for Crossrail 2. I am expecting that in the next few weeks, but we are taking action on capacity in the meantime. I will be at Waterloo station this afternoon to see one of the new generation of trains that will be operating in the coming months on the routes that serve both our constituencies. The works taking place at Waterloo this summer will allow 10-coach trains, rather than eight-coach trains, to serve our suburban networks. That is good news for passengers.

Airport Capacity

James Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 25th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I know that the spaceport decision is on its way. I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman thinks the United Kingdom’s choice for the spaceport’s location should be Prestwick. That would cement the bonds that exist between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, showing that we are all part of one United Kingdom.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

We need more airport capacity but, with respect to the Secretary of State, Heathrow is the worst of the choices available to the Government, particularly for my constituents. Will he confirm that the final decision will be made here in this House and that we will be free to reject Heathrow?

[Chris Grayling]

First, let me say to my hon. Friend, and to my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Dr Mathias) and others, that I know this is a difficult decision for a number of colleagues to accept. I respect their views and have every sympathy for the pressure that we are putting them under by doing this. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (James Berry) is my constituency next-door neighbour and I have worked hard for him in his constituency. I was delighted when he won. All the same, he will understand that the Government have to do what is in the interests of the whole United Kingdom, and these decisions are sometimes difficult for colleagues. The matter will have to be approved by the House, which will have the final say on the national policy statement. If that national policy statement does not secure the approval of the House, this cannot happen.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Berry Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Sounds very exciting indeed, I am bound to say.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

When we consider rail station refurbishments, one of the things that we should prioritise is disabled access. On the Chessington branch in my constituency there is not a single accessible station. In the renewal of the South Western route franchise, will the Minister therefore consider prioritising improvements to disabled access on our train stations?

[Claire Perry]

Mr Speaker, I am glad that you share my excitement about the improvements in the rail networks. We have set up the £400 million Access for All scheme, which has been wisely and well spent. I am always happy to look at additional station improvements and to meet with my hon. Friend to discuss.

Airports Capacity

James Berry Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

My hon. Friend never misses an opportunity to promote Birmingham airport. The only thing I slightly disagree with her about is that I do not regard airports such as Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, East Midlands, Glasgow and Edinburgh as regional airports.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for confirming that the Government will not outsource key policy decisions to unelected commissions and will not be rushed into making a decision about a runway that will not be operational until 2030. Will he confirm that if the third runway is still to be considered, it will only be with the three caveats that Davies placed on it, about a fourth runway, night flights and meeting EU air quality limits?

[Mr McLoughlin]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, in that whatever decision is finally taken—three options are still being discussed—we must get the best mitigation deals possible for the people affected. The three points he mentioned would certainly be important considerations in any decision, including if the decision should be taken for Heathrow. As I say, we are looking at three options.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Berry Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for pointing out the opportunities for firms in his constituency, which I know incredibly well. Indeed, I have visited Tintwistle with him on numerous occasions and he has pointed out the improvements that he wishes to see. The road investment programme will, in part, help us to move towards those improvements, but the work that Colin Matthews is doing on the wider issue of a tunnel will also be important for his area.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

Since I last addressed the House at Question Time, Cumbria, Lancashire and the north-west have experienced record-breaking rainfall, which has led to the worst flooding since 2005. It closed the west coast main line, but Network Rail’s orange army has worked tirelessly to restore the service and I am pleased to say that at 14.00 on Tuesday 8 December trains were once again running from London to Glasgow via Preston. Since then, rail services have restarted on all the affected routes. This Christmas, Network Rail will undertake a significant programme of work, delivering the Government’s record £38 billion investment in the railways.

[James Berry]

Given the imminence of the announcement, I shall resist the urge to ask about Heathrow and will ask instead what steps the Secretary of State’s Department will take on irresponsible pavement parking in view of the cross-party support gained for the private Member’s Bill that we debated in this House last Friday.

[Mr McLoughlin]

A very useful debate took place last Friday and commitments were given to have further discussions on this important issue. I will ensure that those discussions take place and that we try to address some of the issues. Local authorities already have a lot of powers, however, if they wish to use them.

Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill

James Berry Excerpts

Friday 4th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Simon Hoare]

I disagree with my hon. Friend that these are complicated proposals; I think they are anything but complicated. As we all know, local authorities choose to prioritise different areas, and we are both lucky enough to reside in and represent constituencies in the area of a finely run and Conservative-controlled county council.

I return, however, to the point made by our hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). It would be up to local authorities whether to use the legislation. If they decided not to, for cash, political or ideological reasons, there would be no obligation on them so to do, and they would continue to rely on the police—or police community support officers, if they so wished—to treat the matter as a criminal offence and to issue tickets and fines through that process. That is the important point. This is not a coercive Bill; it seeks to address, in a pragmatic and sensible way, an issue that is recognised by many people in this House and the organisations I listed earlier.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for introducing the Bill and all those, including my constituents in Kingston and Surbiton who have long campaigned for this measure—

[Bob Stewart]

It was Kingston that fined me.

[James Berry]

I know. I am glad to see my hon. Friend’s parking fines going towards reducing our council tax bills. Will my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) confirm that the Bill reaches a sensible accommodation between motorists and the long list of organisations he mentioned, and, more importantly, a localised accommodation that could, if done properly, be right for all areas of the country?

[Simon Hoare]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A local authority could decide to deal with the matter on a ward-by-ward basis. It could run pilots. It is an iterative, organic process, not a fixed one. I will leave him and my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) to sort out the repayment of the fine.

I know that there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but I think these are powerful: 97% of blind or partially sighted people have encountered problems with general street obstructions, and 90% of them have experienced direct trouble from a parked car. I have been sent a vast number of photographs—it goes to show, particularly after this week, that social media can actually be social—of vulnerable and elderly people, mothers and disabled people walking into busy carriageways to get around parked cars. I had an email from a lady who was in a mobility scooter who literally got stuck: there was one van parked in front of her and, before she realised it, another behind her. There was no dropped kerb, and she sat there for an hour and a half, because although she could just about bounce her vehicle down the kerb, there was no guarantee she would be able to bounce it back up on the other side. I say in all common decency, and as a motorist myself, that if only a little extra thought was given to these matters, legislation probably would not be required, but we are all too much like St Augustine, and therefore we often err where we should not.

Airports Commission: Final Report

James Berry Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

Thank you for calling me to speak in this debate, Mr Deputy Speaker, as it is a very important one to my constituents. I thank my neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Dr Mathias) for speaking so passionately on this subject. She has done so for many years, and today has been no exception.

I need no persuasion that we need another airport in the south-east, that we need one soon and that we need to get on and make the decision. I am afraid that I am entirely unconvinced by the hypothesis—it has not been presented in this House today—that Britain will not lose out if we do not build a new runway soon, because we will. The question for me, then, is simply where—not whether—we are going to build the new runway.

This is plainly a difficult political question, so the Government were right to seek an independent report on it. There is no requirement, however, for the Government slavishly to follow the conclusions of that report. I know that they will consider it very carefully. We are elected politicians: we do not outsource things to so-called experts; we consider the evidence and we make decisions in the interests of the country and our constituents.

I want to pick up on three things in the Davies report, and these are essentially the three brakes that Davies put on expansion at Heathrow, all of which significantly undermine the case for adding a third runway there. The first is the ban on night flights. Noise pollution from Heathrow already disturbs more people in west London than any comparable airport in Europe. To get around that problem, Davies has suggested a partial ban on night flights.

Leaving aside the scepticism of local people that any such rule would be honoured in the breach, this makes little sense if the idea of a new runway is to allow us to increase airport capacity and allow flights from more destinations. Banning night flights would reduce the number of connections with places such as Hong Kong, Singapore and China, as well as deter some low-cost carriers.

Davies’s second predicate on expansion at Heathrow is the meeting of air-quality targets, which he said must be met before any aeroplanes are allowed to take off from the third runway. Air pollution already kills an estimated 10,000 Londoners every year, so it is right that reducing air pollution should be one of the caveats on allowing additional flights from Heathrow. This is a caveat, however, that cannot possibly be met any time soon. It is certainly not a caveat that can be met in the next few years, even on the basis that Heathrow stands still and there is no expansion, so how can it possibly be met if we add a third runway? I cannot see how a third runway, with more flights and more pollution, would do anything to reduce the current levels at Heathrow. By contrast, Gatwick has never breached EU or UK annual air-quality limits. We have heard of political decisions that would have led to “bridges to nowhere” and “roads to nowhere” in Alaska. What we do not want is a runway to nowhere at Heathrow, because that would not solve the urgent need for additional airport capacity.

The third predicate is that Parliament should legislate against a fourth runway at Heathrow. I have to say that, for my constituents, the fact that Davies says that we must legislate against the runway being built rather underscores the risk that that is what would happen if we did not. Besides, legislation would give no comfort to my constituents, because it would merely mean that the issue of the fourth runway would have to be debated in the House before the runway was ever built.

My constituents are already quite badly affected by noise from Heathrow, although they are not even under one of the flightpaths. What I am concerned about—particularly on behalf of my constituents in New Malden —is that one of the flightpaths from a new third runway would go directly over their houses, as is clear from the plan.

[Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)]

The effect of noise disruption has been raised regularly by Members who represent constituencies near Heathrow as an argument against the third runway. May I put on record the disruption experienced by my own constituents, who are hugely affected by flights to and from Gatwick? Hundreds of them came to a public meeting that was held recently to discuss this very issue. There may be fewer flights, but there is less ambient noise, so the effect of the flights is magnified.

[James Berry]

I thank my hon. Friend for that information. I am sure that when my hon. Friend is up in London, she will welcome the fact that the third runway will not go ahead—for, like other Members who are present, I feel that the legal challenges are so great that even if Parliament approves the runway, it will not go ahead.

I do not forget for one moment that a number of my constituents work at Heathrow airport, but the fact is that if a third runway is not built at Heathrow, the airport will not close down. It will not go away. It will still be one of the busiest airports in the world, and it will still be a big provider of jobs for people in London and people in my constituency.

People agree that we need more airport capacity. Nearly everyone agrees that we need to get on and make a decision. I do not demur from the proposition that choosing a major international airport hub is something that we need to get on with, but the solution is not a third runway at Heathrow.