Heathrow Protest at London Transport Department

Via an email source, Environmental News has learnt of a violent act carried out by protestors opposed to the expansion of Heathrow Airport, which took place in London in the early hours of January 16th.

According to the information we have received, members of a group known as the Climate Suffragettes used bricks to smash the entrance of the Department for Transport’s premises in London.

The incident is said to have taken place at 4.00am this morning, and involved three women.

The bricks they threw were wrapped in paper, on which was written ‘NO THIRD RUNWAY, THE SUFFRA-JETS [sic] ARE BACK’. Additionally, green paint was thrown and this, said the email, was a representation of the ‘greenwash’ (i.e. environmentally friendly spin talk) the group claimed the government had been coming out with.

Heathrow Third Runway Announcement

The act, they said, was directly linked to the government’s January 15th announcement approving the construction of a third runway at London Heathrow.

The emailed quoted a Climate Suffragettes spokeswoman as having said: "The government has opened the flood-gates for radical action. Yesterday they sacrificed all of our futures and spat in the face of democracy. The third runway is unwanted and is a global threat. When they make democracy meaningless what other reaction could they expect?

She added:"We have less than ten years to turn climate change around. Women cannot just stand by and let this government treat our futures as a joke. We fight for the safety of humanity, and if the government will only listen to the smash of windows, then so be it."

In a final comment, the woman stated:

"The government has bypassed democratic process for the sake of corporate profit. The Suffragettes died for the democratic rights that the government so sweeps aside. We take our lead from our past to defend our future."

UK Climate Change Programme

Yesterday’s announcement sparked an emotional response from many environmentalists. In particular, it was linked to the UK’s CO2 emission decrease programme, with the government obliged to have reduced CO2 output by 80 per cent before 2050.

The comments made by the Friends of the Earth director, Andy Atkins, typify the responses given.

“Expanding Heathrow is a hammer blow for UK climate targets that will shatter Gordon Brown's reputation on the environment”, he said.

“This terrible decision will intensify opposition to the government's aviation strategy."