Following my earlier post, I received numerous emails from pilots and cabin crew asking to be associated with my letter to John McDonnell MP. Many said their views were shared by others, and I have no reason to doubt that is so.
The predominant theme was disgust that a Member of Parliament should be associated with a cartoon which made light of the use of force to achieve an objective. Several said they were circulating the link to show that an MP with many LHR employees in his constituency seemed to think the use of force was a proper subject for humour.
On the other hand, a number of contributors to this thread take a different view of the cartoon.
I hope the text of my email reflected the spread of opinion:
Dear Mr McDonnell
I am a barrister specialising in aviation law and am constantly in close contact with the aviation industry. I write in a private, not professional, capacity.
I think you should know that the cartoon which appears on the 'No Third Runway' page of your website is causing widespread distress, primarily amongst pilots and cabin crew. The mildest comments fall into the 'bad taste', 'insensitive', 'irresponsible' category. I needn't trouble you with the more extreme comments.
Not suprisingly, there is constant reference to, and condemnation of, the fact that the cartoon appears on the website of a Member of Parliament.
Most people accept that you are not actually advocating the use of force to achieve your objective, but it is open to misinterpretation and provokes 'There's nothing funny about terrorism' comments.
Of course people understand the 'Men in Black' weren't terrorists but, in the current climate, a cartoon depicting the leaders of a group fighting the third runway armed with guns and rocket-launchers to fight the "invaders" is at best unfortunate.
You may well consider your critics to be over-sensitive. Perhaps they are, but the fact is that those who fly for a living, whether as pilots or cabin crew, do feel sensitive post September 11th last year, especially as airliners are so vulnerable to the use of force by extremists.
Please do not dismiss your critics as opponents of your campaign. As you probably know, even amongst those employed in the aviation industry, opinion is divided upon whether there should be expansion at Heathrow or elsewhere in the country.
I should also make it clear that I am not merely reporting the views of others. I entirely agree with the criticism, and am frankly amazed that someone in your position should associate himself with a cartoon which is at best in bad taste, and at worst insensitive to the feelings of those most vulnerable to attacks.
You're the politician, I'm not. But you should know the cartoon is being used, and circulated, to undermine your credibility. You may wish to consider whether the cartoon adds anything to the force of your arguments, and balance any perceived value against the distress it causes to many in the industry.
Perhaps the way forward is to remove it because it is open to misinterpretation, stressing that no offence was intended?
Yours etc"
I received a formal acknowledgement from Mr McDonnell's PA and the cartoon has since been removed - coincidence or not, I am unable to say.
Tudor Owen