Contested Evidence

The Governments own independent watchdog: The Sustainable Development Commission has called for an independent review of aviation policy. In a paper released in September 2008 the watchdog has examined the disputes and gaps in information which are leading to conflict:It sets out some of the opposing views of a wide range of stakeholders concerned about aviation, and makes the case for an independent review of policy and a true national debate before major decisions can be made on the future of air travel in the UK.http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/aviation.html

So another government body is raising flaws in aviation policy which of course the aviation industry are happy to exploit. It seems the pressure is on and growing. Just how much more will it take to tip the Government off that they are backing a dead donkey in terms of public opinion?

Pants on Fire....Just how many are there?

With all the misinformation that is consistently being spewed out of London City Airport, and the wider aviation sector with regard to the claimed benefits of expansion (for them of course not you, the taxpayer and local resident who pays for it) we have come upon a hitch.

We don't like to admit it, but it is actually impossible to estimate how many pants are on fire, by those who will benefit most, in support of the cause to expand aviation (based on dodgy estimates and reports) over the most densely populated areas in the country. We are just wondering how many of these paid individuals who will benefit from aviation expansion actually live under a flight path themselves and already, or will experience, a sky full of noise and pollution?

The Sustainable Development Commission has highlighted the issues around the evidence that is currently used and concludes:" that a new evidence base establishing the true benefits and impacts of aviation must be created before any decisions on major airport expansion can take place".

We tried to apply some of the methods currently used by the aviation industry, but we felt that they compromised FTF's purpose: to give clear and accurate information to residents across the areas affected by the proposed expansion of flights from LCA, in a bid to plug the lack of accurate information available.

So instead we are going to leave you all to think about just how many pants are on fire at this current time.