News from Caroline Russell: London MPs ‘got it wrong’ on Heathrow vote

19 July 2018

The Mayor said London MPs who voted for Heathrow expansion were ‘wrong’ when questioned by Caroline Russell AM today. [1]

The controversial expansion is being actively fought by the Mayor who has joined a legal case against a third runway, and the London Assembly who are unanimously opposed to the plans. [2]

Caroline Russell asked the Mayor to give as much weight to climate change as pollution and noise in the joint legal action with boroughs, and he agreed to meet with environmental charity Plan B. [3]

Any airport expansion risks further climate disruption as the Government’s Committee on Climate Change said there is a ‘marked failure’ across the board, in sectors like housing and transport, meaning we are nowhere near meeting the national decarbonisation targets necessary to allow airport expansion.

Caroline Russell said:

The noise and pollution caused by expansion at Heathrow would affect hundreds of thousands of people – not just those living under flight paths but also along the congested roads heading towards the airport. The MPs who supported this stupid decision have let down Londoners.

But this misery wouldn’t be confined to London, air pollution doesn’t settle in one place. We’ve had an unprecedented heatwave and fires in our grasslands this summer as our land dries out. This isn’t a freak occurrence it is climate breakdown and it’s happening now.

Any airport expansion will wreck our commitment to meeting the Paris Climate Change agreement to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees.

The Mayor must step up and show real leadership on this issue and stop pretending expansion won’t work in London but can at Gatwick. He should be working with his C40 major city counterparts on a no airport expansion pledge. It doesn’t work anywhere – we can’t be complacent about our future and close our eyes to what is already happening around us.

Plan B is an environmental charity, who are taking the Government to court because the UK’s carbon targets are based on 2 degree warming and not 1.5 degrees as per the Paris Climate Change agreement.

London MPs 'wrong' to vote for Heathrow expansion

Notes to editors

[1] Caroline Russell AM ‘What actions will you take to stop the third runway at Heathrow?’ Mayor’s Question Time, 19 July 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaEy-gT9if0&feature=youtu.be

[2] Assembly reaffirms opposition to Heathrow Airport expansion https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/assembly-opposed-to-he...

[3] Plan B vs UK https://planb.earth/plan-b-v-uk/

[4] How London MPs voted on Heathrow expansion

How London MPs voted on third runway - 25 June 2018
Conservative
Name	Party	Constituency	Vote
Bob Blackman	Con	Harrow East	Against
Justine Greening	Con	Putney	Against
Zac Goldsmith	Con	Richmond Park	Against
Greg Hands	Con	Chelsea and Fulham	Against
Matthew Offord	Con	Hendon	Against
Theresa Villiers	Con	Chipping Barnet	Against
Stephen Hammond	Con	Wimbledon	did not vote
Nick Hurd	Con	Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner	did not vote
Boris Johnson	Con	Uxbridge and South Ruislip	did not vote
Paul Scully	Con	Sutton and Cheam	did not vote
Mark Field	Con	Cities of London and Westminster	for
Julia Lopez	Con	Hornchurch and Upminster	for
Robert Neill	Con	Bromley and Chislehurst	for
David Evennett	Con	Bexleyheath and Crayford	for
James Brokenshire	Con	Old Bexley and Sidcup	for
Iain Duncan Smith	Con	Chingford and Wood Green	for
Joseph Johnson	Con	Orpington	for
Chris Philp	Con	Croydon South	for
Andrew Rosindell	Con	Romford	for
Bob Stewart	Con	Beckenham	for

Labour
Name	Party	Constituency	Vote
Marsha De Cordova	Lab	Battersea	Against
Diane Abbott	Lab	Hackney North and Stoke Newington	Against
Janet Daby	Lab	Lewisham East	Against
Sarah Jones	Lab	Croydon Central	Against
Emma Dent Coad	Lab	Kensington	Against
Lyn Brown	Lab	West Ham	Against
Karen Buck	Lab	Westminster North	Against
Dawn Butler	Lab	Brent Central	Against
Ruth Cadbury	Lab	Brentford and Isleworth	Against
Jeremy Corbyn	Lab	Islington North	Against
Jon Cruddas	Lab	Dagenham and Rainham	against
John Cryer	Lab	Leyton and Wanstead	against
Ellie Reeves	Lab	Lewisham West and Penge	against
Clive Efford	Lab	Eltham	against
Barry Gardiner	Lab	Brent North	against
Helen Hayes	Lab	Dulwich and West Norwood	against
Rupa Huq	Lab	Ealing Central and Acton	against
Rosena Allin-Khan	Lab	Tooting	against
John McDonell	Lab	Hayes and Harlington	against
Kate Osamor	Lab	Edmonton	against
Teresa Pearce	Lab	Erith and Thamesmead	against
Matthew Pennycook	Lab	Greenwich and Woolwich	against
Steve Reed	Lab	Croydon North	against
Andy Slaughter	Lab	Hammersmith	against
Keir Starmer	Lab	Holborn and St Pancras	against
Emily Thornberry	Lab	Islington South and Finsbury	against
Catherine West	Lab	Hornsey and Wood Green	against
Chuka Umunna	Lab	Streatham	did not vote
Kate Hoey	Lab	Vauxhall	did not vote
Stella Creasy	Lab	Walthamstow	did not vote
Bambos Charalambous	Lab	Enfield Southgate	did not vote
Tulip Siddiq	Lab	Hampstead and Kilburn	did not vote
Jim Fitzpatrick	Lab	Poplar and Limehouse	for
Rushanara Ali	Lab	Bethnal Green and Bow	for
Harriet Harman MP	Lab	Camberwell and Peckham	for
Neil Coyle	Lab	Bermondsey and Old Southwark	for
Vicky Foxcroft	Lab	Lewisham Deptford	for
Mike Gapes	Lab	Ilford South	for
Meg Hillier	Lab	Hackney South and Shoreditch	for
Margaret Hodge	Lab	Barking	for
David Lammy	Lab	Tottenham	for
Siobhain McDonagh	Lab	Mitcham and Morden	for
Seema Malhotra	Lab	Feltham and Heston	for
Stephen Pound	Lab	Ealing North	for
Joan Ryan	Lab	Enfield North	for
Virendra Sharma	Lab	Ealing Southall	for
Wes Streeting	Lab	Ilford North	for
Gareth Thomas	Lab	Harrow West	for
Stephen Timms	Lab	East Ham	for

Lib Dem
Name	Party	Constituency	Vote
Vince Cable	Lib Dem	Twickenham	against
Edward Davey	Lib Dem	Kingston and Surbiton	against
Tom Brake	Lib Dem	Carshalton and Wallington	against

News from Caroline Russell: London MPs ‘got it wrong’ on Heathrow vote

Notes to editors

Share this page