Boris backs Thames Estuary airport

As the battle for the London Mayor warms up, so the press releases by the candidates get wilder and wilder. If King Newt announces free bus travel for under-18s, Boris proposes banning non-adults from buses altogether. Meanwhile Paddick throws his lot in with the cabbies, and everyone steals Sian's opposition to the third runway.

But the latest idea doing the rounds is the Thames Estuary airport. Long known primarily for being the sort of place your parents complained that you sounded like you came from, the Thames Estuary is now being promoted by Boris Johnson as the solution to the whole 'economy v Londoners' battle which rages nightly in the Evening Standard.

Of course, Plane Stupid are a bunch of miserable anarchists, who wouldn't vote if our lives depended on it. But even we can see that Boris is trying to appease two camps. With one foot in the Square Mile, and the other in the Camp for Climate Action, Boris thinks he has the best of both worlds - but he's not keeping anyone happy. The City wants more airports - right freakin' now - not fairy tale solutions some point in the future. Those opposing expansion don't want new runways built anywhere and would quite like to see Heathrow converted into a kiddie's playground.

Boris and supporters of Operation Thames Barrier need a reality check. Either we expand airports, or we hit our climate change targets. There isn't any middle ground - however much your election campaign would like to pretend there is. It's the City or the Planet, BoJo - and every other candidate has chosen.