There have been many headlines of late which concern the go ahead that was recently given to the creation of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. But recently a new form of opposition was thrown – literally – into the mix. And it consisted of green custard.
Many people find different ways to oppose the building of this runway. It might still be years into the future but people are taking action now to try and stop the planned development from taking place.
One of these people saw fit to demonstrate their anger at the planned expansion by throwing green custard over a politician who has supported the plans at Heathrow Airport. That politician was the Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, and the person who attacked him was a woman called Leila Deen.
Needless to say the event caused headlines to reverberate around the world. Deen certainly got more publicity for the plight of the people who will be most affected by the creation of a new runway. But was it the right kind of publicity?
There is no doubt that she did it out of frustration at the fact that the government is all for green living – and yet approves a third runway that will only add to the pollution in the area. And of course a whole village will also be demolished in order to make room for it.
But did it get the reaction she wanted?
It seems that there was far more in the way of column inches about the custard than the runway. Most reports gave the reason why she did what she did, but the rest of the space was given to the fact that it was poor Peter Mandelson who was on the receiving end. The woman was later arrested but Peter himself did take a lot of the sting out of the event by joking about it.
So it would appear that his quick defusing of the situation – not to mention his light hearted quip about not wanting the green revolution to be in his face – made it somewhat redundant.
All the protester got for her actions was a date to go back to a police station in April. Did she really achieve any other success thanks to her actions?
It would appear not. One can understand her frustrations (and there must be many other people who also oppose the third runway at Heathrow), but throwing green custard isn’t going to get you taken seriously. It might well be the easiest way to grab the headlines but it won’t be done in the right way.
It will be interesting to see whether there is any real and lasting opposition to the runway as time goes on. Those who do oppose it need to be sure that they do so by going through the right channels. Getting more publicity for their cause is undoubtedly a good move – but only if that publicity doesn’t involve custard.
In any event, the situation regarding the new runway planned for Heathrow rumbles on.