London mayor Boris Johnson starts another battle with PM Cameron over Heathrow
Skift Take
The third runway debate has turned London into a political battlefield with Johnson now issuing a one-year inquiry that outright excludes the Heathrow option in direct opposition to Cameron’s investigation.
Boris Johnson will defy David Cameron by holding a rival inquiry into the future of aviation capacity which will specifically exclude a third runway at Heathrow.
The “call for evidence” will hear from airlines, airport operators, local authorities and aviation experts, gleanings their views on his proposal for a new airport in the Thames estuary or expansion on alternative sites around the capital.
In a move designed to highlight what Mr Johnson has described as the Prime Minister’s “fudge-orama” over the future of aviation, the inquiry will last between nine and 12 months – reporting two years earlier than the Davis Commission which Mr Cameron set up to investigate the same issue.
Unlike the Government’s probe, chaired by Sir Howard Davis, the former head of the Financial Services Authority, Mr Johnson’s investigation will exclude the controversial option of building of a third runway at Heathrow.
Its findings will be presented to the Davis
