Green-ing gone, green for Heathrow?
 

Looking like Patrick McLoughlin will replace Justine Greening in the transport job.

There always was a serious question mark over how the transport secretary could make a fair decision over Heathrow, when she had already been so partisan in her objection to a third runway.

It looks like she will be moved out of the way, on a one way ticket to somewhere unknown.

There's a lot of speculation about where the new guy stands on HS2 aswell, but I'll leave that for PTDRuNe.

Maybe eventually, but I doubt very much in the imminent reshuffle.

With the government having now set up an "independent" commission to review airport capacity, replacing JG at this stage would send out the signal that the result of the review (i.e. recommending R3) is a foregone conclusion.

A promising and sensible move by the Govt(never thought I'd be saying this!).

Greening just been walking down Downing St. A sure sign that she's being moved.

Earlier rumours that Jeremy Hunt would be moved to transport - he's just moved to health instead of Andrew Lansley. A huge promotion for him considering the BSkyB scandal. One slimeball to another!

An equally significant move is that of Theresa Villiers, from Transport Minister with responsibility for aviation (and rail) to Northern Ireland Secretary.

Now confirmed. :\

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Notable also that the new Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, is on record as supporting a u-turn on Heathrow as recently as last week:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9499565/Another-Tory-minister-demands-u-turn-on-Heathrow.html

"Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland Secretary, made the call at a Cabinet meeting shortly before the summer recess. He fears that economic growth in Northern Ireland will be hit if Heathrow does not expand quickly.

Mr Paterson is the latest in a growing list of Conservatives urging David Cameron to drop his opposition to another runway at the London airport"

Always interesting to see all of these politicians moving from one role they know nothing about to another. What you really need is those who are experts on industry's, rather than the posh 'look at all my economics and politics degrees' types who have no experience of an actual industry, we would have a far better and more efficiently run country if that was the case! Anyway, political rant over the latest 'reshuffle' does seem to favour runway 3, however where is Patrick McLoughlin's constituency, just out of interest?

Patrick McLoughlin's constituency is somewhere in rural Derbyshire - he happens to be MP for friends of mine who live near Buxton. They reckon he's 'not bad' but then for a politician that means he doesn't have to take his hat off to get under a door .

BBC News - Speaker John Bercow reprimands Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin

Well, not only has The Girlie gone from being Transport Secretary :D but has been moved to International Development Secretary.

That means she will need to take lots and lots of those nasty aeroplanes (presumably from Heathrow) to do her job. A bit of an eye-opener to her then on how the real world has to work. At least she'll build up to Gold on BA's Executive Club.

As she comes inbound early in the morning from another junket in Africa to determine what percentage of our Foreign Aid gifts will be permitted to end up in Swiss bank accounts, as she goes round and round in the Ockham Hold, she can stand up and make a cabin PA taking credit for all the timewasting and squandering of fuel that is going on for everyone in front of her because she was so opposed to sorting the problem out. Round we go again, everyone ........

No, Mr Tree-hugger, she went because she presided over the whole Heathrow runway issue becoming a constant sore and embarrassment to the government, didn't do anything about sorting it out, and then allowed the same to happen to the West Coast rail franchise, giving it to a much-despised franchisee that led to unprecedented complaints and petitions about that as well. Then there's the HS2 railway project, both stalled and has upset a significant number of marginal Conservative MPs. The list goes on.

Looks like the decks are being cleared within the DfT, too.

John Parkinson, Deputy Director of Aviation Policy is reportedly making way for Phil Graham, Deputy Director for High Speed Rail.

Might have interesting implications for both HS2 and Heathrow.

Boris is goint to stir the pot though..He is not a happy chappy and had come out fighting this morning.

Presumably you've never seen Yes Minister?

Jeremy Hunt is PROMOTED??? My what a good boy he has been. Just goes to show that some things never change. Party first, country last. :ugh:

So Putney Woman gets booted out from Transport. :D Next on my list is a Business Secretary who actually likes trade and talking to big nasty businesses.

Here comes Boris! BBC News - Boris Johnson's Heathrow warning after Justine Greening's move

Villiers replacement at Transport is to be Simon Burns, MP for Chelmsford, whose parliamentary CV doesn't appear to show any previous aviation-related experience.

Lack of appropriate experience in the field would seem to eminently qualify one for a cabinet position. An excellent choice.

Surely economic growth in NI is much more hit by the double taxation on any internal flight to anywhere in the UK, not just LHR? Apart from the sole EWR exemption, any flight to anywhere is hit, when compared with an alternative from DUB.

BFS & BHD still have their link with LHR (for now). I'd be asking why there aren't better links in with other European hubs - NI is the inverse of many airports in Northern England.