HEATHROW AIRPORT'S CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAY HAVE TOLD LIES AND POSSIBLY PROVOKED ACTIVISTS INTO ACTION

 

HEATHROW AIRPORT’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE

MAY HAVE TOLD LIES AND POSSIBLY

PROVOKED ACTIVISTS INTO TAKING ACTION.

 

In a Press Release issued on 06 July, 2015, five days after the publication of the Airport Commission’s report in which it recommended expansion at the airport, it stated that John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport, was going to announce to the delegates at the Runways UK Conference that “the debate on where a new runway should be built is now firmly closed” and that “work will begin immediately”. Both of these statements are lies and provocative as the location of the runway is only a “recommendation” and work can not begin until the Government gives its final decision which the Prime Minister David Cameron has delayed until after the London Mayoral Elections have been held. Realising how ruthless this man appears to be to achieve his ambitions it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the security to allow the peaceful climate change protesters into the secure area, the incident, which under normal circumstances would have counted as a major breach and instigated some form of investigation, doesn’t appear to have affected anybody inside the organisation, and then use the consequences, possible prison sentences, prohibition orders, suspended sentences etc. as a big stick to deter others from trying similar things and delaying his project.

The group of environmental activists Plane Stupid after having protested against a proposed third runway for a number of years, had effectively been disbanded following the Prime Minister, David Cameron’s  promise “no ifs, no buts, there would be no runway”. A member of the group said “We thought we’d won this fight” and “We thought that it was off the table” but following the publication of the report on the 1^st. July 2015 by the Airports Commission which said “Heathrow was best placed to provide ‘urgently required’ capacity”, we thought “We’re going to have to fight this all over again”. Plane Stupid issued a statement saying “When the democratic, legislative processes have failed it takes the actions of ordinary people to change them”. On the 13^th. July 2015, just 7 days after John Holland-Kaye’s announcements which could have been taken as fact that the final decisions had been made, 13 ordinary people, now known as the Heathrow 13, cut a hole in the perimeter fence and gained access to the north runway where they set up a peaceful protest against the affects of the proposed expansion by chaining themselves together and to fencing allegedly causing the airport to have to cancel 22 flights, worldwide delays and astronomical cost. After 6 hours they were arrested and charged with aggravated trespass and being airside without permission. They have subsequently been found guilty  and sentenced to 6 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months with restriction with regard to access to Heathrow and periods of unpaid community service.

It is said that banks are too big to fail and perhaps Heathrow Airport is too big and too vital to our country to fail but that doesn’t give it, or the people who own and run it, a right to run roughshod over ordinary people who have a right to question their actions or their intentions, especially when they directly affect them and people that they are concerned about. Nor does it mean that they can set  an agenda and do as they wish on the basis that the country will have to accept it. If, as we are being told, this development is for the greater good of the country, then it needs to be sold to the people who will be directly affected by it, not just dumped onto them with the threat of compulsory purchase orders and the wiping out of an entire village.

Are their any good people out there, with some form of influence, who can look into this matter with a view to trying to correct an injustice against 13 ordinary people who felt that it was their duty to carry out Direct Action, which is a vital part of any functioning democracy.

I have heard that the Chairman of the Airport, Sir Nigel Rudd, is due to stand down this year. Perhaps his final act could be to replace the Chief Executive.

 

James Hancock.

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing” Edmund Burke)

( Ref: DE60844)

 

Heathrow Airport – PRESS RELEASE.

 

06 July, 2015 

Heathrow expansion moving ahead with procurement strategy for ‘all of Britain’

• Following a clear recommendation from the Airports Commission, Heathrow has moved into the delivery phase
• Heathrow will create a Procurement Forum with business leaders from across the UK to inform the airport’s procurement strategy
• Heathrow’s annual business summit will include an event outside London for the first time as the airport looks to strengthen supply chain access for SMEs across the UK

In his first speech since the Airports Commission’s clear recommendation for Heathrow expansion, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye will announce that the debate on where a new runway should be built is now firmly closed, that Heathrow expansion will enable the Government to deliver the UK’s long-term economic plan and that the airport is beginning to move swiftly into the delivery phase.

Expanding Heathrow will create up to £211bn of economic growth and 190,000 new British jobs across the country – the first wave of which will come from the planning and development of an additional runway and new terminals.

Speaking to delegates at the Runways UK conference, Mr Holland-Kaye will announce that the airport will now begin to develop a comprehensive procurement strategy for the £15.6 billion in private investment that will deliver new hub airport capacity for the UK.

Mr Holland-Kaye will announce that work will begin immediately, with the creation of a Procurement Forum with representatives from different sectors and experiences and from across different regions who will work with Heathrow to champion and challenge the procurement strategy of the airport’s expansion. The objective of the forum will be to make sure Heathrow has the right strategy in place to deliver Heathrow expansion both on time and on budget, whilst also considering the wider implications of other major programmes underway, and the supply chain opportunities for growth across Britain.

This PRESS RELEASE has been shortened. The full version is currently available on Heathrow Airport website :- www.heathrow.com

 

END.

 

 

HEATHROW 13 - DISTRICT JUDGE DEBORAH WRIGHT "PLEASE LET THESE ORDINARY PEOPLE GO FREE"

HEATHROW 13- DISTRICT JUDGE DEBORAH WRIGHT

“PLEASE LET THESE ORDINARY PEOPLE GO FREE!”

 

 

On Wednesday 24th. February 2016, 13 ordinary people known as th Heathrow 13, will turn up at Willesden Magistrates’ Court, to hear what their sentences are going to be after having been found guilty, on 25^th. January 2016, following a 2 week trial, of aggravated trespass which caused disruptions and delays at Heathrow Airport on 13^th. July 2015. District Judge Deborah Wright told them that they should be prepared for “jail time” because of the “astronomical cost” that the disruption caused. As it has now been pointed out that these 13 ordinary people were NOT directly responsible for the “astronomical cost” I hope that she sees fit to withdraw her threat of jail from her sentencing and “let these ordinary people go free” to return to their families.

 

It is time for Heathrow Airport to stand up and admit that “they were at fault”, and “responsible”, for allowing this group of ordinary people, who were peaceful protesters, to get past their security systems with all of their equipment and gain access to a restricted area, set up a sophisticated fortress with a polar bear on top of an iceberg and other members chained to it and cause disruption, delays and astronomical cost. They should be particularly grateful that this failing wasn’t discovered by a terrorist group who could have run amuck and caused untold mayhem.  It is my understanding that in EU Law the airport owners and operators are “solely responsible” to make sure that nothing under their control, from a mechanical fault, a pilot not turning up, protesters blocking the entrance down to a simple fuse having blown, is allowed to cause any disruption and delays what so ever, and they should take “all steps to make sure that they can not happen” and that backup systems are in place to cover unforeseen happenings.

 

James Hancock.

 

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing” Edmund Burke)

HEATHROW 13 - WHEN THE ESTABLISHMENT USES ORDINARY PEOPLE TO COVER UP ITS FAILINGS !

HEATHROW 13 – WHEN THE ESTABLISHMENT USES

ORDINARY PEOPLE TO COVER UP ITS FAILINGS !

 

On Monday 13^th. July 2015, 13 ordinary people now known as the Heathrow 13, who are members of an environmental direct action group Plane Stupid, managed to cut a hole in a perimeter fence at Heathrow Airport and gain access to a runway where they set up a peaceful protest against the affects of a proposed expansion by chaining themselves together and to fencing allegedly causing the airport to have to cancel 22 flights, worldwide delays and astronomical cost. After 6 hours they were arrested and charged with aggravated trespass and being airside without permission.

 

To ordinary people Heathrow Airport appears to be the jewel in the crown, a major gateway to the world used by Royalty, visiting Presidents and dignitaries, celebratory, politicians, business people, international travellers and even ordinary people and as such we would expect it to be one of the most secure sites in the country. So can somebody explain how the people directly responsible for the security at Heathrow Airport, which operates on a 24/7 basis, allowed a group of 13 ordinary people, at 3.30am on a Monday morning, to cut a hole in a perimeter fence, get themselves and their equipment into a restricted area on a runway and then setup a sophisticated fortress with a polar bear seated on top of an iceberg in a cage with the rest of the group chained and locked on in various ways. Surely if the security systems and the people responsible for them and their operation had been on their metal, as the whole of the country would have expected them to be, then the protestor should not have even got any further than the security fence and been restricted to protesting outside.

 

In order to blame the environmentalist protestors for its failings the airport would have used the full force of a well financed PR machine.

 

James Hancock.

 

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing” Edmund Burke)

HEATHROW 13 - MAY HAVE UNKNOWINGLY PREVENTED A POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACK !

HEATHROW 13 – MAY HAVE UNKNOWINGLY

PREVENTED A POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACK !

 

While they may not have appreciated it at the time, the Heathrow 13 were doing the airport a very great favour by highlighting a breach in the security system which if it had been discovered by a heavily armed and murderous group of terrorists carrying machine guns, wearing suicide vests and carrying grenades the catastrophic outcome doesn’t even bear thinking about. Then who would the owners and operators of the mighty Heathrow Airport have blamed for the “disruption and delays”.

 

In an article, “Airport welcomes guilty verdict”, some six months after the happening, the owners and operators of the airport should be hanging their heads in shame that they have allowed things to get to this stage to cover up a major and serious breach in their security and that they are prepared to gloat at the way that these ordinary people are being treated and the stress that they and their families are being put through. The fact that they are prepared to sacrifice the possible futures of these thirteen ordinary people and their families in order to cover up their own failings is reprehendable. Instead of demands for expansion of the airport their should be demands for it to be closed down until the operators can prove that the safety of their employees, passengers, flight operators, local residents and the general public along with security matters are their very top priority.

It is time for Heathrow Airport to stand up and admit that they were at fault for allowing this group of ordinary people, who were peaceful protesters, to get past their security systems and gain access to a restricted area and cause disruption and delays. It is my understanding that in EU Law the airport owners and operators are responsible for any disruption and delays, what ever the reason, and they should take all steps to make sure that they do not happen.

 

James Hancock.

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing” Edmund Burke)

HEATROW 13 - WHO IS REALY TO BLAME ?

HEATHROW 13 – WHO IS REALY TO BLAME ?.

 

A group of ordinary people, who are now being referred to as the Heathrow 13, cut a hole in the perimeter fence at Heathrow Airport allowing them access to the Northern runway and they then chained themselves together and to fencing in a protest against the expansion of the of the airport and the pollution being caused by its operation and activities, and caused “disruption and delays”. The fact that they were able to “break the law” in the way that has been claimed, was the fault of the owners and operators of the airport. Heathrow Airport has a responsibility to its employees, passengers, flight operators, local residents and the general public to provide a safe site of operation and I would think that before there is any future form of discussion regarding expansion there needs to be a serious independent and open audit of its operation and their proposals for the future including a rigorous “ what if ” analysis. This would establish “who is realy to blame” and what  action was taken to cover it up.

 

When the small percentage of the general public who use the airport on a regular basis realise how close they could have come to being involved in a possible catastrophic event they should realise that their complaints and anger should have been directed at the people who own and run the airport. If a group of peaceful protesters, who were ordinary people with a message that were “trying to be heard”, could find a breach in the airport security and gain access to restricted areas, then it wouldn’t take long before a heavily armed and murderous group of terrorists might have found and used it with devastating affect.

 

It was the airport’s responsibility to ensure no unauthorised access to restricted areas could happen under any circumstances and I hope that an investigation on their behalf was carried out and the person responsible was dealt with in a similar manner that they expect for the Heathrow 13.

 

James Hancock.

 

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing” Edmund Burke)

ORDINARY PEOPLE - TRYING TO BE HEARD.

ORDINARY PEOPLE – TRYING TO BE HEARD.

 

There are a number of ways that ordinary people, who have a particular view, and who become frustrated because they are “only ordinary people and nobody listens to them”, can take in order to try to be heard. They can write letters to local and national newspapers, form organisations, arrange marches, raise fighting funds to pay lobbyists but the only ones that we ever get to hear about are the ones that become direct action activists because they are the ones that the media decide to consider as being newsworthy, not normally because of the message but because of the method chosen to highlight it. But now the establishment has decided to make an example of one of these groups, we can only assume to give a message to deter others, by threatening them to ‘expect jail’ for aggravated trespass and entering a security restricted area.

 

The group, Plane Stupid, cut through a perimeter fence at Heathrow Airport and thirteen activists chained themselves together on the north runway causing what was claimed to be disruption during their peaceful demonstration. In reality the Airport Authority, rather than pursuing the prosecution of these people should be GRATEFUL to the group for having highlighting a serious breach in their security and relieved that it wasn’t a group of terrorists who would have been spraying bullets and using explosives and the outcome could have been far more disruptive including wounding, destruction, devastation and even fatalities.

 

As a sign of their appreciation, Heathrow Airport should appeal to the court to have the threat of jail removed from these thirteen ordinary people who were only “ trying to be heard ” and in the process did them a great favour.

 

It was the airport’s responsibility to ensure no unauthorised access.

James Hancock.

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing“ Edmund Burke)

BREXIT - LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE EU.

BREXIT – LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE EU.

 

The main thing that will loose the “out campaign” a unanimous vote in the referendum is the people’s fear of what to expect in “ life outside of the EU ”. Unfortunately it is a fact that “frightened people always vote for the bully” and we know who the bully is in this matter despite the “in campaign” claiming that fear will play no part in their campaign. The people need to be given both sides of the argument in clear language that ordinary people can understand to allow them to make an independent decision on what they think is best for the UK as a whole and them and their family and friends in particular.

The “out campaign” no matter how it is structured or who its leaders are have to be seen to be singing off the same hymn sheet. It is the message that matters more than the messenger and ordinary people are not going to support a cause just because they recognise the person giving it. A number of people are keen to tell us what life could be like if we vote to stay in the EU but nobody seems as keen to tell us what “life outside of the EU” will be like for the ordinary people. We hear generalisations about law making, the judicial system, control of our borders, our place in the world etc. but very little about jobs, earnings, immigration, housing, trade deficits, imports etc. and how living standards will be affected for the ordinary people.

There are rumours abound that if the UK votes to leave that the EU could demand another referendum as they have done in other countries until they secured the outcome that they wanted, that there would have to be a meeting of the other 27 countries to decide the conditions of the UK leaving and that it could take up to five years to complete and that the EU has threatened to make the UK’s life as difficult as it possibly can, using them as an example to deter any other country from considering taking any form of similar action.

 

James Hancock.

A Good Common Man.

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing“ Edmund Burke)

BREXIT - TIME FOR A LINE IN THE SAND.

BREXIT – TIME FOR A LINE IN THE SAND.

 

Following all the recent messing about of the UK by the EU it is time that our Prime Minister David Cameron drew a line in the sand. It is time for him to face up to reality and to stop visiting his counterparts around the EU with a begging bowl as we all know that the only person’s vote that matters is that of Angler Merkel, as was seen in the vote for Jean-Claude Junker as President of the European Commission, when she decides how to vote the majority, especially those in the eurozone, will follow her example. He should now issue the EU with a list, including the free movement and immigration controls, of the minimum that the UK will accept to consider remaining a member of the EU. He then needs to put on a white shirt, a red, white and blue striped tie, a union flag lapel badge and get on an aeroplane with the union flag on the tail and go and visit some of our friends around the world to show the people of Great Britain that he is fighting for them and not just for himself.

 

He can then stand tall knowing, that while he would prefer the UK to remain a member of what he considers to be a reformed EU and offering him far better future job prospects, that there is a future for the UK outside of the EU and that he is the person to lead us into that future should the people choose that option. At the moment he appears to be spending too much of his time and effort on what appears to be his desired outcome which could mean that an out vote wouldn’t make him the right person to lead the country into a new and exciting future.

 

We are not a federal state of the EU and I feel that if the people decide to remain a member of the EU that is exactly what we will become and our independence, based on a rich history, will be lost for ever.

 

James Hancock.

 

A Good Common Man

( Because of what happens when “good men do nothing“ Edmund Burke)