Richard's blog

Radical anti-capitalists BMI are at it again - this time threatening to axe flights between Durham Tees Valley airport and Heathrow if BAA raises the price of landing slots at the London airport.

They've got MPs in such a tizz, that 14 have signed up to an Early Day Motion, asking the DfT to mark the flight as a 'public service', keeping landing costs lower than the market rate.

Nuclear may be a thorny issue for environmentalists right now - what with the Government using nukes as a techno-fix solution to climate change - but opponents of one little airport in the South-East have found themselves in an unlikely partnership with their local nuke station.

Lydd airport is trying to expand from 5,000 passengers a year to 500,000 passengers, making it the poster boy for delusions of grandeur. It's even renamed itself London-Ashford airport, despite being nowhere near either. Unfortunately for the airport's owner, Dungeness nuclear power station is right next door.

You know you've made it when you appear in the Guardian's 'the year in review'.

Both Plane Stupid and the Camp for Climate Action managed to squeeze in an appearance, in a year dominated by climate change - literally, if you lived in Gloucestershire or Hull.

Sadly Flying Matters failed to appear. Oh well, there's always next year, eh Michelle?

This morning Defra published a compilation of airport noise charts, showing the area around airports, and the various decibel bands.

Nothing odd about that, until you look closer. While the DfT tries to avoid showing an area greater than its preferred 57db limit (and rejected the recent ANASE report which found that people are disturbed at 50db), the Defra day chart goes down to 55db, and the night one to 50db.

Could those crafty civil servants at Defra be trying to undermine their transport colleagues determination to ignore the ANASE report's findings? Why else would they show a 50db limit if, as the DfT believes, people are only affected from 57db and above? Or is it just early and I'm being conspiracy minded? Answers on a postcard to: I don't like aircraft noise, c/o the DfT, 76 Great Marsham St, SW1P 4DR...

We've all been there. You're at the party of a lifetime, getting down in a stylish and decorous manner, making eyes at someone across the room. Next thing you know, it's five hours later, you've woken in a pool of vomit and your hosts are looking at you with eyes that flit from hatred to pity and back again.

So it was for the Americans at Bali. Most of the delegates were partying responsibly, but rumours abounded that the Americans overdid it. A lot. So while the other representatives returned home with their tans topped up, the Americans woke on Sunday morning with foggy heads and a dim memory of having signed something. Something bad...

Climate change campaigners from Kernow Rising Tide have occupied Newquay airport and called for an end to its plans for expansion.

From their action report:

Sometimes you're lucky... For the recently formed Kernow and Plymouth Rising Tide groups, yesterday marked an escalation in their fight against climate change and for environmental justice. However the planned rooftop protest at Newquay airport was given an unlikely boost when builders at the airport left a ladder propped up...which was just as well because ours broke!

Watch the video

It all started so well. 10,000 people jetted off to Bali for two weeks of sun, sea and partying. But as the days passed, one nation's representatives began acting up.

The problems started when James Connaughton, the senior US negotiator in Bali, declined to go on an afternoon sightseeing tour, and spent the time drinking heavily with the rest of the US delegation at the poolside bar. When the party returned they found the Americans passed out on the sun-loungers.

Just when you thought the expansion couldn't get any worse; yesterday's Westminster Hall debate revealed that the third runway could see up to 4,000 houses destroyed, with 10,000 people forced out of their homes.

John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, made clear that this was not going to be the last we hear of Heathrow in Parliament: "We shall apply regularly for debates on different aspects of the matter, so I warn the Minister not to plan any lengthy holidays next year, and certainly not to plan any via Heathrow".