MP accuses police of launching pre-emptive strikes before royal wedding, but Scotland Yard insists raids are unconnected Scotland Yard has raided five squats in London 24 hours before the royal wedding – a week after promising pre-emptive action to ensure the day is trouble free. Three squats in Camberwell, south London, were raided on Thursday morning along with a community at Heathrow, known as Transition Heathrow and set up in opposition to the building of a third runway. The fifth squat raided was Offmarket in Hackney, north-east London. Scotland Yard said 14 people were arrested in Camberwell. A spokesman denied the raids had anything to do with the royal wedding. Police said the raid at a squat known as Ratstar in Camberwell was carried out under a section 18 warrant to search for stolen goods. A spokesman said once officers arrived at the address they found that those inside were bypassing the electricity meter and were arrested for “electricity abstraction”. “It’s business as usual,” a spokesman said. “This is nothing to do with the royal wedding.” On Wednesday police officers from the Metropolitan and Sussex police forces raided a squat in Brighton and arrested seven people. Sussex police confirmed it had been assisting the Met in executing three warrants in the city in response to the trouble at last month’s anti-cuts protest in London, which followed the TUC march in the capital. Scotland Yard’s denial that the raids were in any way linked to the police preparations for the royal wedding came a week after senior officers made clear they would be taking pre-emptive action, including raiding squats and making arrests, in advance of the wedding to ensure that no criminal activity took place on the day. To arrest people under conspiracy laws the police would have to have evidence of a plot. But the raids on Thursday all appeared to have been carried out under warrants to search for either stolen goods or to look for evidence relating to the disorder at the TUC march on 26 March and the anti-cuts demonstration in London last December. The warrant issued in Hackney stated the raid was taking place under “section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act” to look for “documentation … material … mobile phones, cameras and correspondence … that can be linked to events and suspects of serious disorder at the TUC rally on 26 March 2011″. One legal source pointed out that it was highly unusual for so many raids on squats to be carried out in one day. “The Heathrow squat has been there peacefully, supported by many people in the community, for more than a year,” said the legal source. John McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, which covers the Heathrow squat, accused the police of “harassing environmental campaigners”. McDonnell raised a point of order in the Commons to question the timing of the incidents, saying they appeared to be “some form of pre-emptive strike before the royal wedding”. He added: “I believe this disproportionate use of force is unacceptable and I would urge that a minister comes to this house from the Home Office to explain what is exactly happening today, what are the grounds for that action and also to contact the Metropolitan police commissioner to explain that many of us feel that this is disproportionate and no way to celebrate this joyous wedding.” Police Protest Royal wedding Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Oxford Aviation Academy cancels lessons after request from regime, which wants students to return home for questioning A leading British flying school has suspended seven trainee airline pilots from Bahrain after they attended a peaceful demonstration in London against their government’s violent crackdown on dissent. The trainees’ lessons at the Gatwick-based Oxford Aviation Academy (OAA) were cancelled after a request by the Bahraini authorities, who have told them to return home immediately and face questioning. Some told the Guardian they would stay in the UK, fearing arrest and torture if they went home. In Bahrain on Thursday a military court sentenced four Shia protesters to death over the killing of two policemen during anti-government protests last month . The students’ training was arranged through the Gulf Aviation Academy in Bahrain, which is ultimately controlled by the crown prince, Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa, whose government is accused of killing dozens of pro-democracy protesters. The order to suspend the seven came from the GAA but it gave no reason. The trainees believe it is a direct consequence of their decision to protest outside the Bahraini embassy in London in late March and demand democratic reform of the Gulf state and an end to the killing of protesters. The trainee pilots said about 70 other Bahrainis on the course who did not attend have not been affected. The OAA, which trains pilots for airlines including British Airways and Qantas, has come under fire for agreeing to suspend the trainees, some of whom were weeks away from qualifying and were likely to have flown for Gulf Air, Bahrain’s state-owned airline. Yasser Al-Sayegh, founder of Bahrain Peace and Justice, based in Manchester, accused the company of placing the value of long-term contracts with Bahrain above the pilots’ welfare and said they appeared to be endorsing the Bahrain government’s attempts to suppress protest. “The school should be much harder with the government of Bahrain,” he said. “They should be questioning why the pilots should be suspended. They are putting business before human rights and that is not British values.” The OAA said its contract to train the pilots was with the GAA rather than the students and that it suspended them because it was directed to do so by GAA. It added it would restart training if instructed to do so. It declined to respond to criticism. “My main worry is that I will be detained at the airport,” said Jalil, one of the trainees who is using a pseudonym to protect his family in Bahrain. “If we are tortured inside the prison we would fail our airline medical, which would ruin our chances of being a pilot.” “We have been hearing similar stories of fellow Bahraini students in the UK and around the world who were punished by having their scholarships revoked for their bravery to raise their voices and speak their beliefs, claiming that they offend the image of the kingdom of Bahrain,” the students said in a statement. The problems for the pilots began on 14 April when Khalid Khalaf, an official at the GAA emailed Philip Edwards, the OAA manager, requesting him to ask seven named students “to book their tickets and come back to Bahrain immediately”. Mahmood al-Balooshi, chief operation officer of the GAA, then emailed the pilots last week stating: “You are requested to attend a compulsory and obligatory meeting at Gulf Aviation Academy premises at 10am on Monday 25 April 2011. Failing to attend the meeting will result in the immediate termination of your contract.” The pilots said they were paying their £80,000-per-person fees through loans taken out from a state bank and their inability to complete the course and qualify left their finances in a perilous state. On Thursday the government denied opposition claims that hundreds of public employees have been dismissed on the grounds that they took part in protests. According to the Middle East Studies Association, 111 civil servants were summarily fired from the ministry of education on 17 April. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights estimates 31 people have been killed in the crackdown on dissent and more than 800 people detained. At least nine Bahraini students at universities across Britain have already been ordered home by the government and had their scholarships cancelled after they attended an anti-regime protest outside the BBC headquarters in Manchester. Their families were pressurised to bring them home and the students involved told of “strong and well-founded” fears that they and their families could suffer beatings and torture as a result of the Bahrain government’s crackdown on the protest 3,000 miles away. The country has since told the students if they want to challenge the decision they can do so in court in Bahrain. “The students were advised to follow up the matter with the ministry directly or through our office and appeal their case if need be,” the cultural attache in London said. “Since then, no student made any effort to contact the ministry of education or our office. Moreover, they have the right to appeal at Bahraini court if they felt injustice by the decision. “Students have the right to continue their studies as their tuition fees are paid in full this year and no one asked them to leave their study and head back home, it is their own choice to take. Their families were contacted to be informed solely about the decision as they are co-signers in the agreement.” The students dispute this and say their families have been put under pressure to bring their children home and are fearful for their safety if they do not, some calling them in tears telling them to return. Some said their subsistence grants had been stopped, which means they can no longer pay their rent. Bahrain Middle East Protest Arab and Middle East unrest Robert Booth guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media It looks like Fox is trying to stir up a new Jeremiah Wright controversy by attacking President Obama for where he attended Easter services this year. Apparently it is completely unacceptable in Fox world to go to a church where the pastor a year before said some bad things about Fox “News” and called out Rush Limbaugh and right wing talk radio for being racist. Gee, I wonder where the hell someone might have gotten that idea? I’m sure Limbaugh and his “Barack the Magic Negro” song had nothing to do with that assumption. But Bill-O wants to challenge him to a debate: BILL O’REILLY: Finally, as you may know, Mr. and Mrs. Obama attended Easter services at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington. Here’s the problem. The pastor is a guy named Wallace Smith, who is a race activist. Here’s what he said in a speech last year: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE SMITH, PASTOR, SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH: When you look at what’s going on, it may not be Jim Crow anymore. Now Jim Crow wears blue pinstripes, goes to law school and carries fancy briefs and cases. And now Jim Crow has become “James Crow, Esquire,” and he doesn’t have to wear white robes anymore because now he can wear the protective cover of talk radio or can get a regular news program on Fox. (END VIDEO CLIP) Pastor Smith apparently believes that the American establishment, including some media outlets like FNC, is racist, designed to keep black Americans down. That is an outrageous charge unless you can prove it, and Pastor Smith cannot prove it. He’s bloviating, stirring up alleged bias for absolutely no reason. So the question becomes: Why would the president sit in a church run by a guy like Wallace Smith? I can’t answer that question, but I’m offended by the pastor’s statement about Fox News. I’ve been here 15 years. I don’t know anybody in this organization who’s racist, and if Pastor Smith wants to debate it, he’s welcome here anytime. But I predict he will not show up on “The Factor” because he can’t back up his racially charged statements. Again, does the pastor deserve being legitimized by the president of the United States? O’Reilly should talk since he certainly knows a thing or two about bloviating. As Media Matters has documented, Fox has a long history or race baiting , but of course Bill-O and Crowley are going to pretend they don’t. Racism, what racism? How dare anyone call Fox or right wing radio racist. The horror! And just to add insult to injury, Monica Crowley uses this ridiculous supposed controversy they drummed up here to justify the birther nonsense we’re all sick of hearing about. Crowley claims Obama somehow brought the birther crap on himself by doing things that are un-American. Yeah sure Monica. I give some kudos to Alan Colmes for pointing out the obvious during this segment. If this is the sort of B.S. that the GOP wants to run on in 2012, good luck with that.
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With a new trailer announcing that shooting of The Avengers has just begun, are we in danger of suffering hype overload? This week may well go down in history as the most exciting in all of movie history. We’ve been treated to one blockbuster revelation after another. On 24 April it was breathlessly announced that a brand new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 would debut on ABC Family during the broadcast of Happy Gilmore on 27 April. And all this week, the Apple trailers site ran a banner trumpeting the 28 April arrival of the brand new Transformers 3 trailer – the film’s third – with an exclusive picture of some metal hovering above some skyscrapers . But, as incredible as these announcements have been, they’ve been blown clean out of the water by the release of the first promotional image from The Avengers. It is, without question, the most exciting picture of four empty chairs that the world has ever seen. And it’s packed with all sorts of tasty information, too. For example, careful examination of the photo reveals that Iron Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk and Captain America will all appear in The Avengers, and also that these characters will all have arses and should therefore be able to sit in chairs. Spoiler alert! Seriously, though, what’s going on? Didn’t it used to be the case that a trailer was all that was needed to publicise a film, not a news story alerting you to the fact that a trailer would premiere during a middling Adam Sandler film on a channel nobody watches, or a nondescript picture of a robot alerting you to the premiere of a new trailer for a film that you’ve already seen two trailers for, or a picture alerting you to the fact that a film has started shooting footage that may eventually be incorporated into a trailer that you might be able to watch in about eight or nine months? It’s not like we’re in for any great surprises, either. Even before it was released, you could have predicted that the Harry Potter trailer would include shots of Daniel Radcliffe gritting his teeth and Ralph Fiennes saying “Harry Potter” in a creepy voice. Similarly, what could the Transformers 3 trailer possibly have in store for us, aside from even more interminable shots of indistinguishable robots furiously clanking at each other? There’s nothing wrong with studios wanting to build up a bit of buzz around their films, but isn’t buzz supposed to be, you know, buzzworthy? At least more buzzworthy than a photo of some chairs. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe excited teenagers around the world are currently texting each other things like “Did you see that photo? The Avengers is going to be the best film about four empty chairs ever .” The worst possible outcome of this week’s empty nonsense is that these anticlimactic announcements will somehow catch on. Because what if this is the future? What if every film from now on – every piece of Oscar bait, every low-budget indie favourite, every highbrow literary adaptation – starts counting down to the premiere of its trailer? We’d grow desensitised to it, just as we’ve grown desensitised to trailers being the primary method of publicity. And then the blockbusters would have to crank up the promotional machine even earlier. We’d live in a world where news stories would announce the imminent arrival of news stories that would announce the imminent arrival of a countdown to a trailer, or teaser photos of chair legs designed to whet our appetite for full photos of empty chairs. Enough is enough, surely. Harry Potter Science fiction and fantasy Film industry Action and adventure Stuart Heritage guardian.co.uk
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Producers of Baby It’s You! accused of pilfering names and likenesses of original members of 1960s girl group The producers of a new Broadway musical about the 1960s girl group the Shirelles have been hit with a lawsuit, charging them with pilfering the names and likenesses of the original members. Singer Dionne Warwick, who is also portrayed in the show, Baby It’s You!, joined the legal action, which was filed in New York supreme court a day before Wednesday’s opening night. Three of the four women – surviving member Beverly Lee, who owns the trademark to the Shirelles name and the estates of Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris McFadden – filed the lawsuit on Tuesday. Baby It’s You! is the story of Florence Greenberg, a suburban housewife from New Jersey who discovered the all-girl group and created Scepter Records. It has been running in preview at New York’s Broadhurst theatre for several weeks. The Shirelles had hits in the 1960s with records including Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Dedicated to the One I Love and Soldier Boy. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Oren Warshavsky, a lawyer for the four, said that like many other recording artists in the 1960s, his clients were not treated well even as they were growing in popularity. “It’s unfortunate that they have to live through it again and watch their stories be told, again without their consent,” he said. The lawsuit accuses Warner Bros Theatre Ventures Inc, Warner Bros Entertainment Inc and Broadway Baby LLC of “cashing in on plaintiffs’ stories and successes, while using plaintiffs’ names, likenesses and biographical information without their consent and in violation of the law”. Paul McGuire, a Warner Bros spokesman, declined to comment. Warshavsky said the timing of the suit on the eve of opening night was a coincidence. The plaintiffs had been in discussions with Warner Bros, but could not resolve their differences and took legal action, he said. Theatre Broadway Musicals United States Soul guardian.co.uk
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This question and answer is part of the Guardian’s ultimate climate change FAQ • See all questions and answers • Read about the project ” Carbon ” is shorthand for greenhouse gas emissions , including CO2, methane, nitrous oxide and F-gases . These gases are released by many different types of activity – not just the burning of fossil fuels, but also farming, deforestation and some industrial processes. Global emissions can be allocated to human activities in various ways. One of the most granular analyses is this one from the World Resources Institute (WRI) , which breaks down total global emissions from 2005 into the following headline sectors: Energy – Electricity & heat (24.9%) – Industry (14.7%) – Transportation (14.3%) – Other fuel combustion (8.6%) – Fugitive emissions (4%) Agriculture (13.8%) Land use change (12.2%) Industrial processes (4.3%) Waste (3.2%) These sectors are then assigned to various end uses, giving the following results ( nicely visualised here ): Road transport (10.5%) Air transport (excluding additional warming impacts ) (1.7% ) Other transport (2.5%) Fuel and power for residential buildings (10.2%) Fuel and power for commercial buildings (6.3%) Unallocated fuel combustion (3.8%) Iron and steel production (4%) Aluminium and non-ferrous metals production (1.2%) Machinery production (1%) Pulp, paper and printing (1.1%) Food and tobacco industries (1.0%) Chemicals production (4.1%) Cement production (5.0%) Other industry (7.0%) Transmission and distribution losses (2.2%) Coal mining (1.3%) Oil and gas production (6.4%) Deforestation (11.3%) Reforestation (-0.4%) Harvest and land management (1.3%) Agricultural energy use (1.4%) Agricultural soils (5.2%) Livestock and manure (5.4%) Rice cultivation (1.5%) Other cultivation (1.7%) Landfill of waste (1.7%) Wastewater and other waste (1.5%) It should be stressed that there is a fair degree of uncertainty about the precise contribution of some activities, especially those which include biological processes such as land use change and agriculture. Indeed, the total contribution from deforestation is much lower in the data above than it was in the equivalent figures from 2000 , due to a change in the underlying methodology – as described in the WRI’s accompanying paper (pdf). The other point to note is that emissions levels are permanently changing. Total global emissions are significantly higher now than they were in 2005, and the ratios between sectors will also have changed. But global datasets take a long time to compile, hence there is usually a multi-year lag before reliable figures are published. The numbers provided above are broadly consistent with the 2004 data published in the latest UN IPCC report . The ultimate climate change FAQ • This answer last updated: 03.03.2011 • Read about the project and suggest a question • Report an error in this answer Related questions • What is carbon? • What are the main man-made greenhouse gases? • What are ‘outsourced’ emissions? Carbon emissions Climate change Carbon footprints Farming Food Fossil fuels Energy Travel and transport guardian.co.uk
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New files reveal Barack Obama father’s disturbing treatment at the hands of US immigration and university officials While the release of Barack Obama’s birth certificate was the big news of the day, it wasn’t the only new document about Obama’s life published on Wednesday. A far more interesting trove of documents has also been unearthed by Heather Smathers , an investigative journalist writing in the Arizona Independent, a weekly newspaper. Smathers made an Freedom of Information Act request for the US immigration service file on Obama’s father , Barack Obama senior – and it contains a disturbing picture of Obama senior’s treatment by government and university officials. As early as 1961, a memo in the file notes a statement from a Mrs McCabe, a foreign student adviser at the University of Hawaii: Mrs McCabe further states that Subject [Obama senior] has been running around with several girls since he first arrived here and last summer she cautioned him about his playboy ways. Subject replied that he would ‘try’ to stay away from the girls. The memo also considers Obama senior’s earlier Kenya marriage, and after noting that “polygamy is not an excludable or deportation charge,” it recommends that “the Subject be closely questioned before another extention is granted – and denial be considered.” The documents show that official enquiries in 1961 were satisfied that the current president was indeed born in Hawaii, as Smathers reports : A memo dated August 31, 1961 from William Wood of Immigration and Naturalization Services indicates that Barack Obama, Sr, was attending the University of Hawaii on a student visa and that a son, Barack Obama, II, was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961. Looking at the documents – posted online in full by Smathers – Obama senior is described within as “a slippery character,” his relationships with several women are discussed and investigated, while the question of Obama senior’s “marital problems” are repeatedly raised – in an era when interracial marriage was still illegal in many parts of the US. In the memos, immigration officials press for more details on Obama senior’s marriages and relationships, while in a memo dated 19 May 1964 an immigration service official appears to be conspiring with Harvard University to get rid of the student: Obama has passed his general exams, which indicates that on academic grounds he is entitled to stay around here and write his thesis; however [Harvard] are going to try to cook something up to ease him out…. They are planning on telling him that they will not give him any money, and that he had better return to Kenya and prepare his thesis at home. Another immigration memo, from June 1964, records that Harvard officials were trying “to get rid of him” and “couldn’t seem to figure out how many wives he had.” Writer Andrew Rice has read the documents and sees a theme: What I think the documents reveal, though, is a subtle, institutionalized conspiracy that in a way seems more insidious than overt cross-burning racism, because almost surely none of its participants thought of their actions as discriminatory at all. In that sense, the file is an instructive artifact, not just of our president’s biography, but of our nation’s history of conflicted attitudes about race, foreign cultures, intermarriage and sex. Hard as it may be to believe today, it seems clear from a close reading of the the file that the president’s father was driven from this country because of his messy personal life. And reading between the lines, it’s not hard to see a subtext of miscegenation. It’s worth remembering that state laws banning interracial marriage in the US were only overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1967, at which time 17 states had “anti-miscegenation” laws – including Maryland, Delaware, Oklahoma, Missouri and Virginia. Barack Obama US immigration United States Race issues Richard Adams guardian.co.uk
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The 168-year-old St Andrews Golf Club is considering changing its constitution to comply with equality law An all-male club in the historic home of golf could be changing its rules to admit women. The 168-year-old St Andrews Golf Club is considering changing its constitution to comply with equality law. The Equality Act 2010 does not ban single-sex clubs, but does not allow private clubs to discriminate on the basis of gender. In a letter to members, club officials wrote that a ban on women could be a “retrograde step” and set out options. The letter, excerpts of which were printed in the Courier newspaper , reads: “Firstly, it could operate as at present with members and their male guests being permitted to use the members’ lounge. “This would result in no lady guests being permitted at all in the clubhouse, as all guests must be given the same rights of access under the Act.” The second option would see the members’ lounge used for members only. Officials reportedly recommend that members back a third option, which allows members and guests into all public areas of the clubhouse whatever their gender. The letter adds: “After much consideration and discussion, as well as a meeting with the past captains and trustees of the club to make them aware of the position, the committee of management is recommending that option three be adopted as the best way, in their opinion, of safeguarding the long-term wellbeing of St Andrews Golf Club.” The proposed changes will be discussed at a meeting next month. The club was founded in 1843 and was called St Andrews Mechanics’ Golf Club. It is based at The Links, in a Victorian mansion overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course. Honorary members include golfer Jack Nicklaus, known as the Golden Bear, and Paul Lawrie, the Scot who won the Open championship at Carnoustie in 1999. Scotland Equality Act 2010 Golf Equality Women guardian.co.uk
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Storms kill more than 100 in Alabama alone, with Tuscaloosa and Birmingham reporting deaths and large-scale damage Powerful storms tore through several southern American states overnight killing at least 128 people in Alabama alone. Fifteen people died in Tuscaloosa, a city of 93,000 and home to the University of Alabama. Sections of the city were destroyed and the city’s infrastructure devastated, the mayor said, after a tornado hit the area. A statement from the Alabama governor, Robert Bentley, on Thursday, said the damage was spread over a wide area, flattening buildings, ripping down trees and power lines and triggering floods. Further north, a nuclear power plant west of Huntsville lost power and was operating on diesel generators. In Mississippi, 11 deaths were reported, four people were killed in Georgia and one in Tennessee. In Tuscaloosa, news footage showed paramedics lifting a child out of a flattened home, with many neighbouring buildings reduced to rubble. A hospital said its emergency room had admitted about 100 people, but had treated 400. “What we faced today was massive damage on a scale we have not seen in Tuscaloosa in quite some time,” Mayor Walter Maddox told reporters, adding that he expected his city’s death toll to rise. “This could be the worst tornado in Alabama’s history,” said meteorologist Josh Nagelberg of AccuWeather.com . The storms spread destruction from Tuesday night and Wednesday from Texas to Georgia, and it was forecast to hit the Carolinas before moving further north-east. Several states suffered power outages as well as property and infrastructure damage that could prove costly to repair. Floods were a concern throughout the storm-hit area, where rain compounded with melted snow to cause rising rivers and saturated soils. The storms forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to close three nuclear power plants in Alabama and knocked out 11 high voltage power lines. President Barack Obama said he had spoken to Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance, including search and rescue assets. “Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster,” Obama said in a statement. Around Tuscaloosa, traffic was hampered by fallen trees and power lines, and some drivers abandoned their cars. Maddox said authorities were having trouble communicating with each other as 1,400 National Guard soldiers were deployed around the state. The flashing lights of emergency vehicles could be seen on darkened streets all over town, and some were using winches to remove overturned vehicles from the side of the road. Storms struck Birmingham earlier in the day, bringing down numerous trees that impeded emergency crews and those trying to flee. Surrounding Jefferson county reported 11 deaths by late Wednesday; another hard-hit area was Walker county with eight deaths. The rest of the deaths were scattered around the state, emergency officials said. In Huntsville, meteorologists found themselves in the path of tornado and had to evacuate the national weather service office. In Mississippi, a police officer was killed on Wednesday morning when a tree fell on to his tent as he shielded his young daughter with his body, said Kim Korthuis, a ranger with the National Park Service. The girl wasn’t hurt. By late Wednesday, the state’s death toll had increased to 11 for the day, said the authorities. The governor also made an emergency declaration for much of the state. Storms also killed two people in Georgia and one in Tennessee on Wednesday. In eastern Tennessee, a woman was killed by falling trees in her trailer in Chattanooga. Just outside the city in Tiftonia, what appeared to be a tornado also struck at the base of the tourist peak Lookout Mountain. Tops were snapped off trees and insulation and metal roof panels littered the ground. United States Alabama Natural disasters and extreme weather State of Georgia Tennessee Mississippi Mark Tran guardian.co.uk
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Competition from Newquay and Exeter airports means Plymouth airport must close as losses look set to pass £1m Plymouth City airport is to close by the end of the year. Its owner, property firm the Sutton Harbour Group, said it was unable to make the struggling airport financially viable and losses meant the airport had to close. Plymouth is in fierce competition in the South West with larger airports in Newquay and Exeter. Nigel Godefroy, chief executive of the Sutton Harbour Group, said: “During our 11-year involvement with Plymouth City Airport we have done everything in our power to make it a success, even launching our own regional airline. “So this has been an incredibly difficult decision, given the efforts by so many, including our own staff, to give the airport a future. “We have always fought for Plymouth’s air links and sought to do our best for the city and its people, our employees and shareholders, but the usage of the airport simply does not support the high cost of operation.” In a statement, the firm said “the wider economic downturn and challenges for the UK regional aviation market” were to blame for the planned closure. It said losses were set to pass the £1m mark over the next year. With its connection with Gatwick having ended in February, it anticipated departing passenger numbers dipping below 100 a day. Sutton Harbour sold off its airline, Air Southwest – which is based at the airport – last year, as it struggled against competition locally from Exeter-based Flybe. Its new owner, Hull-based Eastern Airways, axed a number of routes from Plymouth. Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said losing the airport was a huge blow to the city and urged Sutton Harbour and Plymouth city council, which owns the land on which it is built, not to use it for housing or any other use, suggesting it be “mothballed” for five years until the economy picks up. “Its value as an airport is in excess of £1bn, that is what it would cost to build again from scratch,” he said. “Using the land for housing would only recoup around £40m. “If the city had a motorway or a fast train line this move would be more palatable. But without them the airport is a vital transport link.” Air transport Airline industry guardian.co.uk
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