Angela Rayner [uk parlt (CC-by-3.0) detail]

ON my daily evening walk through Westminster I came across a group of climate protesters from Fossil Free London, demonstrating against plans to expand London City Airport.

Despite sound advice from experts, the environmentally unfriendly project has been approved by the government.

The atmosphere at the protest, outside the ministry of housing, communities and local government, was one of anger and outrage, and messages of the climate crisis and the threat City airport poses were shouted through loudspeakers.

People of all ages stood with placards displaying messages of “they fly we choke” and “Labour puts corporate wealth over children’s health”.

The display was bittersweet as ultimately the climate protesters, who have been protesting against the airport expansion for a number of years, have lost this battle.

The plans have been approved and the passenger cap will increase from 6.5 million to 9 million people a year. It must be said that the move seems slightly uncharacteristic of Labour who have completely contradicted advice from the UK government’s own Climate Change Committee.

It had me thinking. Who will actually benefit from this? Wealthy frequent fliers perhaps. In fact, City airport is the UK’s favoured airport for the most frequent flyers, in 2019 an estimated 43 per cent of seats were occu­pied by passengers who fly at least once every two months. Unsurpris­ing­ly, this means the airport serves wealthy business people. The Civil Aviation Authority data suggests the median household income of leisure passengers at London City Airport is typically around 34 per cent higher than the average UK air passenger.

The Labour mayor of London and Labour’s Westminster Council have put air quality at the top of their agenda. But the government will reverse much of their efforts through decisions such as this one.

In July 2023 London City Airport’s bid for expansion was unani­mously rejected by the local council of Newham which the airport appealed leading to a public inquiry.

Now, having been given the green light by government ministers this week, a joint authored approval letter by secretary state for housing, communities and local government Angela Rayner and transport secretary Louise Haigh insisted that the plans are in keeping with environ­mental regulations.

Joanna Warrington, a Fossil Free London spokesperson said: “This was a major test of Labour’s credibility on the climate crisis. They have failed. By approving City airport’s expansion, Rayner is choosing frequent flyers, private-jet users and executive profits, over protecting the majority from emissions, dirty air and the constant drone of needless flights.

“We’re quite simply running out of time to avert the worst effects of climate breakdown. The last thing our leaders should be doing is approving high-carbon, pointless projects. We need serious climate leadership from Labour.”