Crispin Blunt MP, chair of the Gatwick Coordination Group, responds to the latest statement from Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive of Gatwick Airport Ltd, who has questioned the deliverability of a new runway at Heathrow Airport on political grounds and used this as a reason for expansion at Gatwick Airport instead.
Crispin Blunt said:
“The idea that the latest piece of grandstanding by Gatwick Airport Ltd is going to make the slightest difference to the Airports Commission’s decision is preposterous.
“Gatwick’s entire case is built on ‘politics’, not on a proper consideration of the national interest. On these counts, their proposal is weak and the Heathrow case is economically credible and supported by business. Gatwick’s own principal customer does not want them to expand. Need one say more?
“I am confident the Commission will make their judgement based on the national interest and then it is up to the Government to make a rapid assessment on the same basis.
“For Mr Wingate and Gatwick Airport Ltd to have to rely on the location of the constituencies of several senior members of the Government, shows just how feeble their proposition really is. Overall, their campaign has been noisy and astute. They have played a weak hand well, but, in the end, it is disreputable to suggest that political interest should trump the national interest.”