Welcome to Blairport hell

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse in the UK Transport Department, they come up with a real stinker - a proposal for a mega-airport, nearly a third bigger than Heathrow and built on 1,600 hectares of mostly Green Belt agricultural land between Coventry and Rugby.

This massive development will obliterate two villages and a number of farms, and will transform the green landscape for miles around into a grey industrial-urban sprawl choked by traffic. The Blairport will operate 24 hours a day and will generate some of the highest levels of air pollution and noise ever seen in the UK, affecting the health and well-being of everyone living and working within a 20 mile radius.

cartoon of tony blair standing before the airport from hell. He is saying, 'aviation is exactly the sort of high-tech high productivity industry we want to encourage'

The justification for this £6.9 billion proposal is the government's fixation that unfettered growth of air transport is a good thing for the economy. The reality is that air transport is profitable only because it is heavily subsidised by the tax payer and has never been held to account for the damage it causes to the environment and to human health.

cartoon of alistair darling standing in front of holiday makers on a beach. He is saying, 'the uk aviation industry is great for jobs and tourism (especially in Spain!)'

In an attempt to limit media exposure and debate on the government's airport expansion plans, Alistair Darling took a lesson in news-burial from his unfortunate predecessor and launched the National Consultation on UK air transport just before parliament went into recess. It's obviously business as usual in this infamous department...

And that's just the start.

Take a look at the map showing the extent of the Blairport - 1,600 hectares of greenfield site. Frightening isn't it? But it only shows a fraction of the development we can expect... more

What was that about health?

How come a government that talks big on health is happy to turn a deaf ear to the huge health impacts of the noise generated by the Blairport? Beats us too. more

Killing us softly...

Large airports like Heathrow and Gatwick produce toxic emissions in such huge quantities they'd be shut down if they were power stations or chemical plants. And, guess what - the Blairport will outdo them all. Official figures anyone? Not on your life. more

Revenge of the wobbly bridge people

Airport development means big business to Arup, the company engaged by the Government at taxpayers' expense to prepare the consultation papers and option appraisals on the Blairport. more

THE SPIN MACHINE

logo representing spin machine

Predicted soundbites from Alistair Darling in the months to come...

Aviation is a UK success story.

Yes Alistair - and be very careful not to mention the £8 billion worth of tax exemptions that the aviation industry enjoys or we might think all that success was based on B.A.

We have to balance the needs of a healthy economy against the environmental impacts.

Keep using that balance word Alistair - it implies even-handed, impartial weighing of the pros and cons instead of a cooked-up, sell-out in favour of your friends in the aviation lobby.

We need a framework for sustainable development.

Sustainable - a useful word that can be used in almost any context, has vague environmental and financial connotations but, most importantly, means nothing.

We believe the aviation industry should cover its environmental costs.

Tough talk - but don't mention that you first said it in 1998 or people might ask how many years it takes for a belief to get converted into action.

The growth of aviation will contribute to reducing social exclusion.

Social exclusion - is code for low skilled jobs. What was that Tony was saying about creating a high-skilled workforce?