Heathrow decision must be fast-tracked to prove post-Brexit Britain is open for business
Theresa May is expected to give third runway the green light, but that will only be the start of a long drawn-out process
WHEN is a decision not a decision?
When it comes to deciding how to end decades of dithering over Britain’s airport capacity.
Tomorrow Theresa May is expected to give the green light to a third runway at Heathrow.
But it will only be the start of a drawn-out process that won’t see MPs vote on the proposals until 2018.
We have had countless investigations, commissions and recommendations on airports, during which time Britain has slipped further behind our trade rivals when we need to be flying ahead.
Too many businesses and lives have been put on hold waiting for this decision — another 18 months of consultation is totally unnecessary.
And if the delay is for political purposes — as Mrs May’s website purge and Zac Goldsmith’s by-election threat suggest it might — that is inexcusable.
Speed up the process Prime Minister, and show the world that Britain really is open for business.
Tartan barmy
MORE than one million Scots voted to leave the EU — and who will speak for them?
Certainly not Nicola Sturgeon.
Yesterday the First Minister arrived in Downing Street demanding that Scotland remain in the single market after Brexit.
Ms Sturgeon warned the PM that refusing the tartan army a seat at the negotiating table would result in a second Scottish Independence referendum.
It’s fighting talk . . . but it’s hot air.
Scotland is struggling economically, with collapsing oil prices, gross overspending and spiralling public debt.
Only English handouts are keeping the economy afloat.
Most Scots are opposed to independence and Sturgeon’s desperate attempts to find support in Europe for an independent Scotland have failed miserably.
The United Kingdom voted as one for Brexit and it will leave the EU as one.
Theresa May is right to give Ms Sturgeon short shrift.
Evil spirits
IT’S a picture worth a thousand government education campaigns.
Jarrod Spedding’s Facebook photo of his 14-year-old daughter Tyler hooked up to hospital tubes after downing a bottle of vodka should send a shiver down the spine of every parent.
But Tyler’s experience is not unusual — millions of teens binge drink unaware of the potentially terrible consequences.
The best any parent or teacher can do is try to educate young people about the risks involved.
That’s why Mr Spedding’s photo has become a social media sensation.
It rams home the danger of underage drinking with cold, clear simplicity.
It should be compulsory viewing for every teenager.