Sir Simon goes to the airport

Simon Jenkins surfaced last week with another article (reference 1) in the Guardian lambasting the plans to extend Heathrow, a subject he clearly feels strongly about. An article from which the snap left is taken. An article which prompted me to see what else there was, which turned up an article (reference 2) in the Financial Times, or at least on their website.

Usually, I tend to take more interest in counting the aeroplanes on the flight path down across London than in the airport itself and the last time I expressed an opinion, it was to the effect that having spent £20m on an expensive report about the whole business, would it not be sensible to get on with whatever the report recommended, in this case extending Heathrow. See reference 3. But now I am not so sure. Despite not having attempted the report, or even the more accessible consultation document from the Raynes Park platform library noticed at reference 4.

The Financial Times article suggests that both finance and governance of this bit of critical national infrastructure are rather murky, with it not being at all clear that the owners of Heathrow can come up with the necessary. It not being at all clear what part of the bill will be picked up by taxpayers in their tax bill, rather than in the charges they incur when using the airport. A Heathrow which is already loaded with £15b worth of debt and with ownership structure of Heathrow looking to be very much the sort of thing lambasted by Shaxson, as noticed at reference 5. And with the owners alleged to be sucking more money out of the airport than it is actually making. Also very much the sort of thing lambasted by Shaxson.

I note in passing, that it is all another nail in the coffin of the Tory line that privatisation gets something off the government’s books and off the government’s agendas. Something like Heathrow Airport is far too important to be left to the vagaries of the likes of Messrs. Branson and Green; government has to continue to take an interest, an interest which includes substantially muddying the financial waters.

I also note that the extension looks to cost of the order of £30b – a sum which I compute would pay for 20,000 care workers for 30 years. Which ought to see all us baby boomers off society’s books. Which many of us might see as a better use of society’s limited resources.

While Jenkins makes different points.

Most of the traffic at this airport is holiday makers. Why should they not be diverted to Stansted or Gatwick, places where expansion could be had far more cheaply and with far less disruption?
Furthermore, can we be sure that all these massive traffic forecasts are realistic, given the mess of Brexit, the growth of the climate lobby and the increasing effectiveness of various kinds of electronic communication and interchange?

And talking of climate change, why should we be encouraging holiday makers to fly around the world at all, at a time when change is starting to bear down on us – even if it is those in places like Bangladesh who are really going to suffer. Who is going to house and pay for all those refugees?

He does not mention the awkward fact that holiday makers are probably one of the biggest plus items in our otherwise dire balance of payments.

Curious that BA – which must be the biggest single user of Heathrow - does not back the project.

The whole thing is just another reminder of how big projects manage to hijack the big money. With billions of pounds at stake, Heathrow Airport (paid by volume of passengers, for which the length of runway is a good proxy) and the construction industry (paid by volume of concrete) between them can lobby the various authorities to death – by over feeding and over drinking if nothing else. Or failing that, death by Powerpoint. More than a match for all the little projects, quite possibly far more worthy in aggregate. The only remedy that I see here being strong central government and a strong press.

All of which leaves me a floating voter, perhaps drifting towards the no’s, despite the yes given by the report noticed at reference 3.

References
Reference 1: Heathrow’s third runway plan beggars belief. So don’t expect Boris Johnson to block it - Simon Jenkins - 2019. Guardian, available on their website. One of a steady stream of articles by Jenkins on this subject.

Reference 2: Who will pay for Heathrow airport’s £14bn third runway? - Gill Plimmer and Jonathan Ford - 2018. Financial Times website.

Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.com/2015/07/in-news.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/03/fortean-times.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/01/city-boys-episode-2.html.