Tory failure on aviation opens goal for Labour

During the general election the Conservatives made much of their headline transport policy: cancelling the expansion of Heathrow that a divided Labour cabinet had given a green light.

Coupled to that, Conservatives also made sure that at a local level they opposed any plans to expand Stansted, Luton and Gatwick. They even rubbished their own Boris Johnson for his idea of a Thames Estuary airport.

Today the Conservatives are reaping the whirlwind of that populist but incredibly irresponsible campaign in two ways. First, because their blue riband alternative: the high speed rail link, is losing them swathes of votes in the areas through which the connection will travel. Second, because, as business has now been able to quantify, the desperate shortage of aviation capacity will cost the UK £14 billion over 10 years: a factor that increases exponentially as demand for air travel rises across the board.

The Conservatives' woeful treatment of the home counties presents big opportunities for Labour in the South. The Government has no credible strategy for meeting the urgent capacity problem. But can Labour fill the void? It can if we approach the case for aviation expansion honestly.

This is not an environmental issue per se - though of course any specific airport expansion creates some local blight. But let’s be honest: the impact aviation has on greenhouse gas emissions is miniscule - especially when compared to the two big contributors government really could tackle: vehicle pollution and agricultural emissions. Labour must not be distracted by the false arguments of a misguided green lobby.

Here’s a classic opportunity for Labour to stand on the side of the average voter for whom overseas holidays by air were, at best, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Low-cost flights make such holidays a likelihood. These aspirational voters should be Labour and in 2010 they were not.

Labour was very good at courting big business during our time in government - arguably too good – but we’ve never been especially credible among the entrepreneurial small business class which is so critical in the south and east. But business big and small is united in crying out for more aviation capacity.

And then there's the economic gain the areas closest to our airports experience. Crawley was a Labour seat - and remains on Labour's radar - because of its proximity to Gatwick: not just the jobs directly provided by the airport but the businesses, infrastructure and services that airport generates. Luton and Braintree also benefit directly from their nearby airports. The same is true for the area around any airport: sure it creates disruption for locals on the one hand, but it provides secure jobs on the other.

Somewhere in the South East or East - and probably in more than one location - government needs to expand air capacity. The Conservatives have shown that they are too weak, too conflicted to make that decision. Labour needs to be clear that extra air capacity is needed - and it needs to be bold and say where it will provide it.

The fact successive governments have invested in Heathrow - the wrong airport in the wrong place and of the wrong era has been a long-running mistake and you don't mitigate a mistake by compounding it. Identify an airport that can be that world leader. Build the transport links to get travellers into the city super fast. Write a strategy that gradually reshapes Heathrow for a different purpose: an important airport yes, but not the principal one; and then take that message to the voters: both in constituencies we used to hold and some we’ve never won before.

Adam Gray is a former Labour party organiser