Heathrow

Just days before the expected announcement on Heathrow's third runway, and the BBC reports that BAA has agreed to an independent watchdog to monitor the airport and cap the number of flights. It claims it wants to use the new capacity to reduce congestion. What a load of nonsense: it's just a trick to get runway alternation lifted and the village of Sipson turned into runway three.

• Listen to the Today Programme report.

This is just like Stansted, which was subject to a cap on the number of flights, put in place when they airport was converted to passenger use. Last year BAA applied to have it lifted, and the Government just gave its permission. Similarly Heathrow's expansion was once limited to the fourth terminal, then the fifth. Even BAA used to claim that they didn't want a third runway - now they won't deny wanting a fourth.

The third runway and runway alternation must be a line in the sand. Any expansion at Heathrow - even if just to reduce congestion but not overall flights - cannot be allowed to go ahead. Sipson must not be sacrified to help BAA do its job properly - and if it is, then everything we've worked for will be lost, as the number of flights will just rise anyway once the tarmac is on the ground and the damage already done.

Proving that our finger is on the pulse of all things aviation related, Plane Stupid can exclusively reveal today that Boris Johnson has agreed to part-fund a legal challenge to Heathrow's expansion. (Exclusively, because everyone else ran this story last week.) London's mayor has stumped up £15,000 to help 2M prepare a challenge based on breaches of the EU-set NOx limits.

In 2010 a series of NOx limits will come into effect, and any country who breaches them will meet with heavy fines. It's expected that Governments would have taken steps to reduce emissions to avoid the fines, but there are already breaches at Heathrow airport and no sign of any action to reduce NOx levels. We're not very optimistic of any either, given that this would basically necessitate closing the M4 or the M25, or digging up runway 2. The current solution is to push for a 5 year exemption... basically to postpone the enevitable.

If Heathrow is already breaching NOx limits then building another runway is unlikely to reduce its emissions, so the councils, backed by Boris, are to take the UK to court to challenge the expansion plans. I think they've got a pretty strong case - after all, BAA had to do all sorts of fiddling to rig NOx levels in the consultation document. I suppose I should be grateful to BoJo for his cash - but given that he's supporting expansion at City Airport, I'm not. Green with one hand, blue with the other.

We’re through the looking glass people. I woke up yesterday morning to discover that the Conservatives have opposed the third runway, and are actively warning contractors that if they sign a deal with Labour it won’t be honoured under the Tories. What the bloody hell is going on?

A little background: as a child of the early eighties I grew up under a blue Government, and came of age under a red one. I still associate Conservatism with milk theft (not so bad: I was allergic to it) and very spotty six formers. At age 11, that’s about as evil as life gets. Only axing Cities of Gold could have increased my hatred.

But Cameron and Villiers have been tiptoeing around the third runway for some time now: last year’s Quality of Life Commission report opposed expansion, and there have been constant noises from Tory HQ on ‘economic arguments’ not yet being proven. But the industry is hopping mad and pushing harder than it's ever pushed before, so until the plans are six feet under, forgive me for not raising a glass just yet.

There's something refreshing about the credit crunch: the high-pitched sound of the City of London starting to panic. After years of making oodles of money the fat cats are worrying about how they'll make the repayments on that Maserati they impulse bought last summer.

Luckily for the huddled masses of London's famous Docklands there is a panacea: expanding Heathrow airport. Despite London business group London First (like Earth First! but with hierarchy and massive environmental degredation) calling for a "better, not a bigger Heathrow", a coalition of 100 businesses has demanded the airport expand to serve their bloodthirsty cries for more economic growth.

Interestingly those calling for expansion include Severn Trent Water (former workplace of current BAA wanker Colin Matthews) and Hilton Hotels (who make a living by giving people a place to stay when they jet off on business). So they're hardly unbiased. Perhaps if these corporations focused less on supporting airport expansion, and more on running their own businesses we wouldn't be staring head first into a recession, hmm?