Vince Cable

Several local residents accompanied MPs Vincent Cable and Susan Kramer to a meeting in Parliament with Geoff Hoon MP, the Transport Secretary this week.

MPs were invited to bring residents' representatives to meet the Minister personally and 14 constituencies were present at the meeting.

Vincent Cable MP was accompanied by Philippa Edmunds of St Margaret's who has long been involved in the battle over night flights and she asked about the permanence and legal status of the Government's promise that runway alternation would be maintained. The Minister was unable to make a legally binding commitment.

Vincent Cable said that "there was strong agreement amongst all the MPs from three parties in airport constituencies that the proposed expansion was damaging and unnecessary (with the single exception of Spelthorne). Since the Government has already decided in principle to proceed we were talking to someone who has already made up his mind but it is important that the arguments should continue to be made since there may well be a change of government before the project gets underway. And it is vital to preserve runway alternation which provides welcome relief for badly affected residents.