Ash Cloud Brings Relief To Some And Chaos To Others

The unprecedented closure of UK airspace, as well as a large part of European airspace, has brought chaos to many people who planned to travel and may result in fewer salads and flowers being available in our supermarkets but some people must have enjoyed the best nights sleep they have had in years last night.

All the news has been about the disruption and if I were traveling I would be upset too but the air in the area around our airports is probably at it’s best quality today for many years and the peace and tranquility experienced by some who live under flight paths must be a very special treat for them.

We hear a lot of talk about quality of life but it is mostly just talk and not much is actually done about improving the things that really matter to us as humans. It more usually refers to how big a car you have and how many foreign holidays you have had this year but the reality is that being able to breathe clean air and to hear yourself speak is something that we should consider right up there with the most important human rights.

I spent many hours very close to Stansted Airport a couple of years ago over a period of months and there were times when the smell of aircraft fuel hung over the whole area and I was pleased to get away from it. Many of the fumes of aircraft are less noticeable but they are still harmful and we should not forget the significant carbon emissions these huge aircraft engines pump out.

We have become so dependent on air travel and in doing so we have been prepared, as a nation, to blight so many peoples lives. It is not right and it is not fair. Perhaps the very least we should do is to have one whole 24 hour period each week when there are no flights at all.

You may want to enjoy your foreign holiday, as I do, but we should show more respect and consideration for those who have to suffer to enable us to have our 14 days of relaxation on a beach bathed in sunshine.