More runways needed?

At a time when the country needs to be spending taxpayers` money on improving health care, education, care for the elderly, education, social housing, rail and road transport, and ensuring the less fortunate and low-paid can afford to live with dignity, is it not clear that the whole idea of spending billions on a new runway in London is ludicrous? The Heathrow lobby has obviously played a blinder; who knew 80% of London`s air passengers have no connection with business? Who knew, whilst Heathrow is heavily committed to the UK and European short-haul market, Gatwick airport is seriously under-used?

 The solution must be to divert the short-haul traffic to Gatwick, and free up space for Heathrow to concentrate on expanding business flights to Asian and South American destinations, although why businessmen cannot use technology like the rest of us is beyond me. Have they not tried skyping their counterparts in Brazil, or video conferencing potential customers in India? Yet again this government, so "committed to transparency" it tells us, is being influenced by lobbyists focusing on their bonuses, rather than what is best for the country, and the result is the rich benefit at our expense. Where have we heard that before?

The only thing going for that new northwest runway at Heathrow is that it would take planes over Eton, making the school almost uninhabitable, but sadly, for that very reason, it has no chance of ever being built!