A month in Parliament – March 2009
20th April, 2009
AEF regularly monitors parliamentary debates relevant to our work. In March 2009 we saw a lot of discussion about transport and climate change, with debate focusing on carbon emissions and the EU emissions trading scheme. There were many questions about the financing of High Speed Two, the high speed railway proposed in January 2009 along with the Heathrow expansion and supposed to alleviate the additional congestion and traffic that would be created by the addition of a third runway at the airport. Shadow Transport Minister Theresa Villiers asked questions about air pollution, noise and the planning process for Heathrow.
Towards the end of the month, there was a motion for the Airport Expansion (Parliamentary Approval) Bill to be read but it was set aside for a later reading on 12th June. The bill was introduced by Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer in February, in response to the Government’s decision to deny a vote on the Heathrow expansion. If passed, it would give all MPs the right to vote on the expansion of Heathrow and on a second runway at Stansted.
Parliament closed for Easter recess on 2nd April and returns on 20th April.
A summary of the debates, sorted by topic, is available here as an Excel file. The full text of any (or all) of these debates is available free of charge to AEF members on request; contact us at info@aef.org.uk.