Credit is due to several Tory MPs who stand by their commitments and principles. Zac Goldsmith, the MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston thows down a challenge to his leader, David Cameron, in this http://t.co/qqITRP2e Guardian article over what could be called election-thin commitments on a third runway at Heathrow – and against extra runways at Gatwick and Stansted.

The most pointed quotation is this: “….all this points to an imminent U-turn.

“Why else would the government have announced (yet another) aviation review that will not report until the summer of 2015? After all, if we face a crisis of under-capacity, it is surely odd that the only policy we have in place is an absolute commitment to do nothing for three years. There is only one explanation: the government believes it can press on with a third runway, and without fronting up to the electorate.

“This matters for countless reasons. First, political promises need to mean something. As William Hague has said, there’s no justification in U-turns unless the facts change significantly, which they have not. If there is a pre-election U-turn, my colleagues will struggle at the next election to persuade voters that their manifesto is worth the paper it’s written on.”

This is what Stop Stansted Expansion thinks.

A similar challenge needs to be thrown in the face of Cllr Jim Ketteridge and the Tories who run Uttlesford District Council. They fought elections in 2007 and again last year on the basis that few new homes were needed in this district. They even slashed the official forecasts and are now faced with jacking them back up again, possibly even beyond where they started off.

To quote Zac Goldmsith again “there’s no justification in U-turns unless the facts change significantly, which they have not”. They have not changed on housing number forecasts. They have not changed on the need for a new settlement. It pays to be honest and not to kid the voters! Jim Ketteridge and Jackie Cheetham need a Zac!