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Protester pours fake blood on steps of Leeds Civic Hall as green light given for airport extension

A PROTESTER poured a bucket of mock blood onto the steps of Leeds Civic Hall today after councillors gave provisional go-ahead to controversial proposals to extend the Yorkshire region’s Leeds-Bradford International Airport.

The Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested in the stunt against the development, which campaigners say will condemn a generation of children to increased pollution levels which will endanger their health.

Campaigners say that the expansion will negate savings in carbon emissions achieved for the whole of the city of Leeds, which has a population of 600,000.

They say that the decision directly contradicts the council’s declaration in March 2019 of a “climate emergency” and committing itself to reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on combating climate change.

The Group for Action Against Leeds-Bradford Airport (GALBA) said: “This is the wrong decision: wrong in law, wrong for our communities and wrong for our climate. Leeds City Council has put itself on the wrong side of history.

“However, our campaign is far from over.

“We are meeting with our barrister to discuss our next steps.”

GALBA said it was likely that the group would seek a judicial review of the decision.

Leeds City Council said: “The council recognises that the Leeds Bradford Airport planning application has been the subject of much public debate and, from the moment it was first submitted, full and proper attention has been paid to the evidence and arguments put forward by supporters and opponents alike.”

The council said that the issue of carbon emissions from flights “should be primarily tackled at a national level … rather than by suppressing growth at individual airports in a way that could simply export passengers to other nearby airports.” 

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