28 Aug 2012

How transport became a political hot potato

Facing backbench sniping over airport expansion and now a legal challenge to a decision on a railway franchise: Channel 4 News asks why transport policy is proving such a rocky road for the coalition.

From Philip Hammond‘s announcement that he is “the motorist’s friend”, to the increasingly irate discussion about expanding Heathrow airport, transport anxieties have been at the heart of the coalition’s agonies.

But it wasn’t always that way. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives entered into government without any major disagreements over transport policy. David Cameron’s announcement that it would be the “greenest ever government” helped ease Lib Dem concerns and appealed to the greener side of the party.

However with Britain entering a double-dip recession, many Conservative MPs and business leaders are arguing for policies that prioritise economic, rather than environmental, concerns – and that includes airport expansion.

Tim Yeo gets personal - Gary Gibbon blogs on the row over Heathrow's third runway

Airport expansion

The coalition had come to a compromise over the issue, putting its draft aviation policy on hold until a new government is formed in 2015 to try and keep the peace. But there are growing calls for the debate to be reopened. In a searing attack, Tim Yeo on Tuesday said Cameron’s decision on a third runway at Heathrow would prove whether he was “man or mouse”.

“The reason that transport has risen in priority is partly related to desperate search for policies that will sustain economic growth,” Richard Wellings head of transport at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) told Channel 4 News.

“Transport developments have the potential to deliver massive efficiency gains, economic growth and rising living standards. Obviously it’s going to be a key priority to get the country moving again.”

However Lib Dems remain opposed to more runways, and during the party conference next month members will be asked to back a suspension on new runways at the three largest airports in the south-east of England.

Local issues

However the political tension over the expansion of Heathrow and other transport policies is not just about balancing environmentalism with economics, but also of appeasing constituents in the areas that will be affected.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening was forced to say it would be “difficult” to keep her cabinet position if the government decided to back a third runway. Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan also came under criticism for selling her Amersham home which was on the route of the HS2, after campaigning against it and previously threatening to resign if it was approved.

HS2

And although it has been approved, the high speed rail line, HS2, is not yet out of the woods of controversy. It had been viewed by northern politicians as a “grand gesture” to their constituents, says Mr Wellings.

After the Conservatives failed to gain support in the North and the Midlands, the HS2 was seen as a carrot to garner political support. “But once the second stage of the route is published later this year, people will suddenly see that they’re getting this new line on their doorstep but won’t get any of the benefits,” he told Channel 4 News.

“I think the balance will change once the routes are actually published.”

Ms Greening has heralded the HS2 as a rail revolution which will leading to social, economic and environmental advances and build on the first Victorian expansion of the rail network.

West coast railway

But elsewhere, the government’s decision to sign a deal with FirstGroup to operate its west coast mainline franchise has been criticised by Labour and the transport select committee, which called for a delay in the signing of the contract to allow for a consideration of the deal.

Added to all of the above is the row over soaring rail fares, increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph and the cost of fuel duty, all of which contain a number of hotly contested issues pulling MPs in all directions.

But the controversy is no surprise, says Philip Haigh, business editor at Rail Magazine.

“Transport seems to have become much more important than it used to be. People seem to want to travel more than ever before,” he told Channel 4 News. “If you make travel easier for people, you can see that it would have an effect economically, socially, and elsewhere.”