NWSRG, very pleased to see you endorse my "Yes Minister" procedure(post #259) in your post #285, you just forgot to mention the shifting of Justine!! Quote:
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"(3) The government realises that its "no new runways in the south east" policy is unsustainable and may be softening the public up for the desperately needed U-turn.
It works like this:
(a) the consultation spells out the obvious;
(b) the government welcomes its conclusions;
(c) the government accepts that its "no new runways in the south east" policy is unsustainable and is holding the country back;
(d) the government caves in to the inevitable and "reluctantly" accepts that Heathrow expansion is the only viable alternative;
(e) transport Secretary Justine Greening gets promoted out of the way.
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Silver, don't like or dislike Boris and and possibly don't misunderstand him that much. The man's a canny operator, some say he's after "Call me Dave's" job. Who can say?
As for the £100/pax landing fees at Boris/Silver Island, it may be lazy journalism. On the other hand, any backers of Silver Island need a return on their investment. This is one way of achieving this, IF the airlines choose to move there and pay it.
Any potential investors would clearly think they will or they would not bankroll the project, but it is by no means certain that they will. Apart from any other considerations, shifting airports involves huge expenditure for airlines, particularly for those shifting their hubs: BA, BD (yes, probably "BA-BD" by then) and VS. If they don't go, or certainly if BA/"BA-BD" doesn't go, nor will the others, as there are would little point. Think three little letters: YMQ (Montreal-Mirabel)
As for the closing down of Heathrow, dream on. As a privately owned entity, the government would need to take it into public ownership to do this. How many billions would that cost!!
In prime ministers questions on 18-1-12, "Call-me-Dave" stated that Labour Leader Miliband was incapable of doing a U-turn properly. Let's see if he can!