Laura Sandys gets political
Updated on Jan 30, 2012 at 23:42 by
HBM
Politics is the worst thing that ever happened to democracy, and I only realised this since getting involved in local community campaigns like this one.
The downsides of night flights - noise and other pollution, environmental destruction, reduced quality of life, worse health, more stress, harder-to-teach kids, etc. etc. - are all straightforward facts, and as such are strictly non-political.
The advertised upside of night flights - that they will allow the airport to achieve its master plan and the forecast jobs - is more a matter of belief, trust or interpretation, and as such is likely to coloured by the political colour of your mind/heart.
It's disheartening when political spin and point-scoring produce more heat than light, warming the hearts of political supporters without showing a way forward. (This criticism is emphatically not levelled at Laura alone, not by any means - they're all at it, most of the time, usually when there are better things to be doing.)
Bob Bayford, Consultation, Laura Sandys MP, Planning, S106 Manston, Night flights, TDC 
