WW could care less about R3 at LHR, he will be back in Ireland retired before its operational and the world will be a different place. As for the comment about why should the national hub airport bee dominated by a 'national'carrier well look at FRA , CDG and AMS and see how long it takes to work out who the dominant players are.
only in the Uk does the competition mantra suggest the national asset (and it is despite the complex ownership) should be watered down by allowing new entrants and letting dubiously funded 'state' outfits like EK steal huge amounts of business .
In any event the whole issue is about providing a major international hub for the future and LGW isnt a hub and wont be with a second runway-just more bucket and spade and stag weekend EZ traffic . If its chosen London will end up not with two hubs in one place but no hubs at all so for all the flaws and errors and muddles there is only one choice -LHR.