Gordon Brown And Heathrow Expansion

Gordon Brown says to the CBI that there is a "clear business imperative" for increased capacity at Heathrow, and that Britain's prosperity "depends on it."

But a London Chamber of Commerce survey in 2006 revealed that:

78% of firms were against expansion at Heathrow and less than a sixth of firms would even consider leaving London if the airport did not expand ... Business journeys only account for 25% of all air trips using UK airports – a bit higher at Heathrow – and the proportion is expected to stay the same over the next 25 years. The expansion of Heathrow and the other airports is driven by leisure passengers.

What's more: "The economic costs of climate change will dwarf any profits business might make from a third runway" -- John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK.

You can't double the flights out of Heathrow and be serious about climate change. A third runway at Heathrow would put as much CO2 into the atmosphere as Kenya does each year.

If you have one sector (aviation) doubling its flights from Heathrow, and regional airports expanding-a-go-go across the country, that means to achieve a 65% or 80% cut by 2050, you need to have far more drastic cuts in every other section than aviation.

So, when Brown talks about Heathrow, what does he mean?