‘This is a government that delivers,’ declared David Cameron in a speech on Monday. It’s a good thing he wasn’t announcing the launch of a pizza delivery firm, as tonight’s announcement on airport expansion suggests that the food would be stone cold by the time it finally arrived. After initially saying they’d make a decision on the Davies Commission by the end of this year, ministers this evening proudly announced that they have decided to delay making the decision until at least next summer. In statement, the Transport department said:
‘The Government has accepted the case for airport expansion in the south-east and the Airports Commission’s shortlist of options for expansion. It has also identified the most appropriate way of delivering planning consents for new capacity, it was decided today at the Airports Sub Committee. The Government will undertake a package of further work and we anticipate that it will conclude over the summer.’
That further package of work conveniently takes the decision beyond the 2016 mayoral elections, though James ponders here whether Cameron’s plan is to avoid being the one making the decision at all, and push it back until he has stepped down as Prime Minister.
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