Andrew Simms is right to point to the dangers of airline advertising (Jetting off to the sun? The adverts are selling you a ticket to climate disaster, 27 July). He condemns the government for failing to listen to the advice of the Climate Change Committee that “there should be no net airport expansion”.
Unfortunately for voters, Labour’s position on aviation is no better: Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports are all owned by a consortium of Labour-controlled local authorities in Greater Manchester. All have plans to expand passenger numbers or freight operations. Luton airport is owned by the Labour-run Luton borough council. It, too, has plans for expansion. When visiting Leeds in 2021, Keir Starmer told a TV interviewer that he wasn’t opposed to expansion of regional airports.
The airlines and their advertising may be driving expansion, but they are operating in a policy context where the opposition refuses to oppose.
Christopher Foren
Leeds
