In a radical escalation of the debate over airport expansion and the perceived noise and pollution, campaigners held a conference in London this week with Rising Tide, an international grassroots network that seeks "climate justice" linking global inequalities with environmental damage.
The meeting was organised by Hacan ClearSkies, the anti-Heathrow pressure group based in south-west London and considered the "middle-class" face of airport opposition. Residents' groups from Gatwick and Stansted also attended. Jeff Gazzard, of AirportWatch, said campaigners were keen to swing into action as soon as Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, gave the location of the runways in December. "There has been a demand from middle-class communities [near the airports] to think the unthinkable. Can you combine middle-class civil disobedience with direct action and Swampy-like campaigns?" Mr Gazzard said.
The action might include go-slow convoys and roadblocks near the airports. There are also likely to be protest camps in tunnels, modelled on the opposition to Manchester's second runway in the 1990s.
"The message to Mr Darling is quite clear: we will stand up to the bulldozers," said Hacan's chairman, John Stewart.
Dan Hodges, of the lobbyists Freedom to Fly, said: "It seems they are conceding they've lost the debate but they're not prepared to accept the results of democratic consultation."
