Delay at Heathrow

My friend David Taylor had a simple message to a group of backbenchers between votes this  evening. 'Say' No' to a third runway at Heathrow and no to TNT running the Royal Mail". 'You were not at the Parliamentary Labour Party Meeting tonight, David?' I asked.  "No, I wasn't he said". Ynys Mon MP Albert Owen helpfully explained, "These are the two subjects that Paul raised with Gordon Brown."

A few others also raised these two subjects. While these meetings are confidential, leaks always spring out. London regional television are already reporting that Gordon agreed to have a further meeting with objecting Labour MPs. This was interpreted as a delay in this week's expected announcement.

There is vast constituency of opposition to this hideous plan that will damage Labour's green identity. I hope delay means a re-think. But the omens are not good.

Gordon gave a spirited defence of the option of bringing private money into the Royal Mail. The air will be sulphuric at a meeting on Wednesday between the Labour Group of Trade Union MPs and Peter Mandelson.

250 children dead

There was passion and very well informed debate at a meeting of Foreign Office meeting Bill Ramell and 40 Labour MPs.

Many who described themselves as longstanding 'Friends of Israel'  deplored the disproportionate deaths. The Foreign Secretary estimated the Palestinian death toll as 800, 250 of them children. One MP who was in Syria last week said, ' Can Israel understand the tidal wave of anger against them in all thier neighbouring countries?'

The pictures on Al Jazzera television show  pictures dead children that are not shown here. The most indefensible cases are not the many killed by shrapnel or blast. It's the heartbreaking pictures of young bodies with neat bullet holes drilled into their broken bodies. These images are leaving an indelible impression on the next generation of suicide-bombers and El Quaeda recruits.

Two of us raised the use of white phosphorus shells. They are legal in open countryside but a war crime in urban areas. They inflict dreadful burns. In the Lebanon in 2006, the Israelis used cluster bombs in built-up areas. We have two conventions on which Israel can be charged with war crimes, the Inhumane Weapons Convention and the Chemical Warfare Convention.

The false attempted justification for the war in Afghanistan is that it protects us from terrorist attacks. The Gaza siege is far more provocative.  The sense of injustice felt by British Moslems reinforces the deep sense of grievances that we in the UK have double standards in judging Israel and the Arab states.

It is crass and dangerous. The Government has knowledge and experince of bringing warring factions together in Northern Ireland. Our best contribution could be to repeat the peace making in Palestine. Each day of the Gaza siege that passes by makes that possibility more remote.

Comments

[Graham Marlowe]

I wish you well with both the Royal Mail campaigns and the Third runway, Paul. However, we all know at the moment Mandy has to get his way on everything and probably will again. It seems that it was he that "persauaded" Nrown to bring Milburn back. Now I know you think it a good thing that everyone is "rallying round", but I see a somewhat different picture. I see Mandy and Milburn as part of a group of vultures circling round the Brown stagecoach, and when he falls at the next election it will make it easier for the arch plotter Mandelson to annoint another Blairite leader.

I saw Brown on TV news last night - he looked old, worn out and raddled, which seems to me a metaphor for New Labour itself - and this interview had been recorded earlier in the day for TV-am (funny how he and Blair love that asinine show so much) - so he had the benefit of heavy make-up. He just looks like a defeated man out of time.

As regards Heathrow, as I live not that far away I would love for you to be successful, but if all the business friends of this business friendly PM - including the CBI, you could meet him a dozen times and he would still go ahjead with it. Brown just employs delaying tactics - we all know that.

Perhaps he'll have a "Third Runway Summit" - after all we have had a "drugs summit" an "alcohol summit" a "respect" summit and a "jobs summit" amongst other things (shame that the day he did this yet another several thousand people lost their jobs and another national company World of Leather plunged into administration). I hear there are problems in the downturn getting all the money required for the Olympics. What's nexton Gordy's agenda - an athletic support summit?

[patrick]

Whilst i applaud your stance taken on the Third runway i feel that far more ACTION is needed.
We all know that the business community are not going to stop choking what's left of the natural World. We all know that Joe public will not stop trivial sun tan holidays until air headed celebrities denounce it.
What we have left are the elected representitives of this country.For whatever reasons you are rejecting this proposal should be the exact reasons to stop flying yourself.
No doubt you and fellow MPS will be regular users of the Third runway.
Just like the father of Six British politician lecturing the Chinese on population or the Foxhunting British trying to ban bullfighting in Spain we are all hypocrites.
My laymans advice to all MPS against this further erosion of Biodiversity is simple

STOP FLYING!

Definition of hypocrite-
noun- a person that pretends to have higher standards than they really have.

[Graham Marlowe]

Yes Patrick: According to reports on the Radio 4 Today programme today, it seems that the "delay" is just so that ministers and backbenchers can get "reassurances" from Brown on enviromental concerns, but the fact remains that another runway equals more flights equals more pollution. Any "enviromental guarantees" will be otiose.

Good for Greenpeace - they have bought up parcels of land that would be needed to build the damned thing slo it will be more awkward for them so to do. Greenpeace means action, sadly politicians means waffle.

[Paul Flynn]

Thanks. I'm seeing Gordon Brown again at two this afternoon with other Welsh MPs. He seems to be determined to press ahead. It's encouraging that at least two other cabinet ministers are strongly opposed.

There are so many objection to runway three on practical as well as enviromental grounds that this will be a nightmare for PMs - prsent and future.

[patrick]

Gordon Brown is showing the British public his true environmental colours.He makes noises about reducing emmissions and then does the complete opposite. Like a fat man running a health club he cannot be taken seriously.
The main parties are sadly so tied up with business and trade union links that they are totally incapable of looking after our earth.
Brown will continue urbanising Britain turning what's left of our countryside into an industrialised mess.

[Huw]

I applaud your stance on the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Paul.
Israeli statements historically and generally run that all they kill are "terrorists" and when it becomes impossible to maintain that pretence then the innocent victims were purely accidental collateral damage, whose deaths become the fault of
the "terrorists" in particular and Palestinians in general.
Perhaps if the western media could bring itself to more truthfully and if necessary graphically inform their audiences we would have fewer people willing to support such evil acts, due to their fear of Arabs.
Unfortunately even the tiniest move to balanced reporting is always attacked by people who should know better as an anti Israeli bias and in a short hop and skip
the reporter/s and media outlets get labelled as anti-semitic neo nazis.

Given that the US used white phosphorous as a weapon in Iraq, it seems safe to say that Israel will never be brought to account for it.
Its only allowed use is to generate a smoke screen, it use as a weapon is completely banned.
You have to wonder what the point is in banning any of these things, when even where there is the capability, there is no will to enforce such bans.

[Paul Flynn]

FOLLOWING TODAY'S MEETING WITH GORDON BROWN, A FELLOW MP SAID 'IT'S SO DIFFERENT TO THE MEETINGS WE HAD WITH TONY BLAIR.'

SHE IS RIGHT. HE IS MUCH MORE SYMPATHETIC, INTELLIGENT AND RESPONSIVE. THERE IS A REAL DEBATE ON HEATHROW MILLIBAND AND BENN DESERVE CREDIT. THESE DISAGREEMENTS DO NOT HAPPEN WITH BLAIR.

IT'S NOT THE SAME.

[Graham Marlowe]

So much for listening Paul, it seems Hoon will announce the go ahead for the third runway today. Radio 4 reported this on the 05.30 news, and we all know how New Labour leak this sort of stuff in advance.

Soley was on there, sounding, as ever, as if he were chewing lard.

It really is time Real Labour took back the party from the shower of self-interested spivs liars and business-friendly lackeys that Blair, Brown and Mandy have made the party.