Labour is content to watch the climate crash and burn

Labour has approved a second runway at Gatwick airport.

- ZACK POLANSKI

Let’s not sugarcoat it: this is a disaster. It ignores basic climate science, undermines Britain’s legally binding net zero commitments, and entrenches a system of privilege where a small, wealthy minority pollutes while everyone else pays the price.

The government likes to frame this as a “no-brainer for growth”. But we should be asking: growth at what cost and for whom? The truth is that airport expansion won't make life better for ordinary people. It means more pollution, more noise in people's homes, and more greenhouse gases driving us deeper into climate breakdown.

This isn't about enabling families to fly once a year on holiday. This is about a tiny few, the elite, being able to fly more and more, regardless of the cost to people or the planet.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the numbers. In the UK, 70 per cent of flights are taken by just 15 per cent of Brits and 57 per cent don't fly abroad at all. Yet it's the majority who shoulder the costs, with degraded air quality, disrupted sleep, and the billions in tax breaks handed to airlines while our public services are stripped bare. Airport expansion is not a policy for the many. It is a subsidy for the few.