After persistent CBI lobbying, Parliament approves Heathrow expansion
“Fifty years in the making, this is a truly historic decision that will open the doors to a new era in the UK’s global trading relationships.
“Parliament’s approval to build the new runway at Heathrow will lift prosperity across the country, and has long been seen as vital for firms, especially exporters.
“The race for global competitiveness is well underway and the UK must now be quick off the mark – work on the new runway should start as soon as possible. The prize is tens of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of growth for the British economy.
“As the UK forges a new path to trade, we must also make the best use of existing runways in regions across the country. A truly global Britain will need increased connections and routes from the whole of the UK, now and for the future
Press release from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), June 2018: https://www.cbi.org.uk/articles/new-runway-at-heathrow-will-boost-prosperity-across-the-uk/
Climate campaigners win Heathrow expansion case
Controversial plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport have been thrown into doubt after a court ruling. The government's decision to allow the expansion was unlawful because it did not take climate commitments into account, the Court of Appeal said.
Friends of the Earth, one of the environmental groups that brought the case, said the ruling was "an absolutely groundbreaking result for climate justice. This judgment has exciting wider implications for keeping climate change at the heart of all planning decisions. It's time for developers and public authorities to be held to account when it comes to the climate impact of their damaging developments."
Greenpeace said the government needed to "permanently ground Heathrow's expansion plans. The third runway is already on its knees over costs, noise, air pollution, habitat loss and lack of access, and now Heathrow has yet another impossibly high hurdle to clear.”
The Court of Appeal found that the government had not followed UK policy when backing the controversial expansion plans. It said that the government had a duty to take into account the Paris climate agreement, which seeks to limit global warming. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that the government would not appeal against the ruling.
Adapted from BBC News, February 2020: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51658693
Using the sources, evaluate the view that insider groups exert more influence on the government than outsider groups.
[30 marks]