Three questions for Zac Goldsmith

In what appears to be a series of orchestrated announcements between Zac Goldsmith and the Conservative heirarchy we now have a by-election in Richmond Park without an official Tory candidate.  Goldsmith has been installed as the bookies favourite standing as an independent on a straight anti-Heathrow expansion ticket.

But despite his frequent assertation that he is an independently minded MP he votes with the Tories more than nine times out of ten.  In fact since we had a full blooded right wing majority Tory government in 2015 he has rebelled just five times out of 146 votes - less than 3.5% of the time.

So, I have three straightforward questions to ask:

1. If he wins the by-election will he take the Tory whip and, if not, will he caucus with his pal UKIP MP Douglas Carswell?
2. Will he seek the Tory nomination in 2020?
3. Will he back Theresa May in a confidence vote?

Has Zac Goldsmith left the Conservatives?

If so it might explain his open letter that he kindly dropped through my door yesterday that calls on the Lib Dems to stop a third runway at Heathrow.

In it Goldsmith calls on the Lib Dems to 'apply maximum pressure on your own local MPs and Ministers to kill of the threat of Heathrow expansion..."

Now given the Conservatives have more than five times the number of MPs of the Lib Dems, have the majority of Cabinet Ministers, including the Chancellor, Transport Secretary, Local Government and Planning Minister, as well as the Mayor of London and are responsible for the Heathrow review it seems a bizarre (if not desperate) call.

He clearly now has so little influence in Conservative party that he is forced to seek allies elsewhere. But if so what is the point in him carrying on as their standard bearer?

Scotland's lost airport

This blog doesn't normally travel west of the Hartlhill service station, but I stumbled across this story the other day.

Renfrew Airport was the first municipally owned airport in Scotland, with the first flights taking place as early as 1912. It was the base for the world's first air ambulance service and served as a second world war fighter base.  At one point it was the third busiest airport in the UK.

It had a Le Corbusier inspired terminal designed by Scots architect Sir William Hardie Kininmonth.

And was the arrival point for one Cassius Clay.

 



















It closed in 1966 when Glasgow's Abbotsinch airport was opened and in 1978 the stunning terminal building was demolished ultimately to make way for a Tesco supermarket.

The full story can be found here. 

Vulcan bomber at Southend airport

Returning from my trip north via London's now sixth airport - Southend - which appears to be a mix of aeroplane graveyard and medieval church.  It also has one of the last remaining Vulcan bombers - parked up at the end of its rather short main runway.

Searching for the middle ground in Kenya?

Spotted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi...

Reshuffle reflections

With the dust settled on the cabinet reshuffle it is clear that the 'refreshed' cabinet makes two policy changes more likely.  Firstly, the Tories are in the process of u-turning on a third Heathrow runway and the moving of Justine Greening makes this much easier.  The sacking of Lib Dem Nick Harvey - leaving defence a Tory only department - will surely mean stopping a replacement for trident becomes almost impossible.

What these two policy issues show, however, is a fundamental failing in the way the coalition operates.  In normal circumstances the Lib Dems would surely be campaigning on these issues and using the opportunity of motions in the Commons to flush out supporters of both propositions - on Tory and Labour benches.

But the coaltion agreement doesn't allow the party to do so - it is for House of Commons business purposes effectively a single party. 

In council chambers up and down the country where two or more parties share administration normal competitive politics isn't put on hold between coalition partners.  Council meetings are used to expose weaknesses in opponents stances and promote distinctive positions of individual parties. 

A similar change in the rules of engagement for the coalition parties is now desperately needed - moving a few indentikit politicians between portfolios doesn't address the need for a more flexible working arrangement between the Lib Dems and the Tories.

Northern whippet airport escape story of the day...

The report on the beeb says the following:

"The racing pedigree dog stole away during a walk and slipped past a manned access point into a cargo area.

Gary Brown, the airport's duty manager, told the Manchester Evening News: "It took some time to catch it."

One would have hoped so.