He may only have won the Mayoral election by a handful of votes, but a mandate is a mandate. And so, Boris has wasted no time in setting out his plans for his second term in office, which includes a plea to the Government to build the world’s largest airport in the Thames estuary.
Dubbed ‘Boris Island’, the plan may yet be included in the Government’s aviation strategy this summer before a four-month consultation is held on the issue. Bozza said: “The Government has got to seize the nettle. This is a moment for greatness. It is a moment for bravery. I’ve said my piece on this. I can’t say any more. People know what I think, they know where I stand.”
Whether the Government will share Boris’ ‘dynamism’ and ‘bravery’ is yet to be seen as the Mayor conceded that senior politicians are yet to be persuaded. With ‘brave’ being one of the scariest adjectives that can be attached to a Government plan, the airport is a long way off. However, as the Evening Standard reports, ‘with a third runway at Heathrow being ruled out and no certainty that second runways at Gatwick or Stansted will be feasible, the aviation industry believes London is losing out to rival European hubs.’
Boris added: “My gut feeling is that you could entrench London’s position as the economic powerhouse of Europe. You would solve all sorts of problems in transport infrastructure and regeneration if you went for a big, bold solution of the kind that Norman Foster was outlining.â€