Heathrow expansion should only get the go-ahead if Government can prove it won’t breach air pollution and climate change laws, MPs demand
HEATHROW expansion should only get the go-ahead if the Government can prove that it won't breach climate change and pollution laws.
MPs slammed ministers - who they said were guilty of "magical thinking" and were trying to wish away the problems.
Members of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee accused them of trying to "water down" limits on pollution in order to meet their targets.
And they said the Government were relying on hitting targets for increasing electric vehicles in order to meet pollution limits.
But its own advisors claimed that other sectors of the economy were not able to cut emissions enough to make it work.
Ministers insist that the new runway at Heathrow will not breach the rules.
A public consultation is currently progress after a committee of ministers gave the go-ahead in October for London’s busiest airport to be granted a new runway after years of delays.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says it will allow more connecting flights with other UK airports – but there has been fierce opposition to the third runway proposal.
MPs said today that the measures on noise lack ambition, with no timing on the plans for a night flight ban, and aviation emissions from a bigger Heathrow will be 15% higher under the expansion.
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Committee chair Mary Creagh told BBC News: "There's plenty of talk about how the government wants to solve environmental problems at Heathrow, but a total absence of any policy guarantees.
"The government has missed already its targets for electric vehicles... Our committee has no confidence it will meet its target for 2020 or 2030. Ministers have got to put proper policies in place instead of relying on magical thinking."
The UK breached EU limits on pollution in cities including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow just days into 2017.
Britain has been given a final warning and told to clean up its air - or it will face court action and high fines.
The UK is one of five countries singled out for persistently high levels of nitrogen dioxide levels, which come from sources including factories and vehicles, particularly diesel engines.
Climate change protesters Rising Up! , campaigning against a third runway, used three cars to block the tunnel, chaining themselves to at least one.
Video footage showed protesters chained to a blue car, with a sign saying "no new runways" attached to it.