On Monday (25 June) , MPs in the British parliament, the House of Commons, will vote on whether to give the third runway at Heathrow airport their backing, or to shelve the project indefinitely. This is a make-or-break moment in the long fight over the third runway. The Conservative government of prime minister, Theresa May, is confident of securing the required vote for expansion of Heathrow to go ahead.
With just a few days to go till the crucial vote on Monday, protesters and activists gathered in front of the Houses of parliament in Westminster on Friday, to express their opposition to the project.
Environmentalists have warned the expansion of Heathrow will have a disastrous long-term impact on both air pollution and climate change , and a group of protesters have even pledged to begin an indefinite hunger strike in protest.
Protesters argue that a new runway will exacerbate climate breakdown. Rapidly rising temperatures are causing surging sea levels and intensifying natural disasters, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. They also argue the new runway will not benefit ordinary working people, rather, it will primarily benefit wealthy elites -- a relatively small number of wealthy frequent flyers.
