EMMA THOMPSON - THOMPSON + POLITICIAN TRADE BLOWS IN AIRPORT ROW

THOMPSON + POLITICIAN TRADE BLOWS IN AIRPORT ROW

Oscar-winning actress EMMA THOMPSON has hit back at scathing remarks by a British politician, who criticised her protests against the expansion of London's Heathrow Airport.
Transport minister Geoff Hoon singled out the Sense and Sensibility star for her outspoken views against controversial plans for a third runway at the site.
The star claims the project should be scrapped on environmental grounds.
Hoon tells British newspaper The Guardian, "She (Thompson) has been in some very good films. Love Actually is very good, but I worry about people who I assume travel by air quite a lot and don't see the logic of their position, not least because the reason we have this problem in relation to Heathrow is that more and more people want to travel more and more.
"If someone living in L.A. says he does not think it was a good idea to expand Heathrow, well the last time I looked the only way to get from L.A. to Britain is Heathrow."
But Thompson hit back at the minister, claiming he'd missed the point of her argument.
She says, "Get a grip Geoff. This is not a campaign against flying - we're trying to stop the expansion of Heathrow in the face of climate change.
"It sounds like the transport secretary has completely missed the point. Again."
Earlier this week (begs11Jan09) protesters including Thompson, British comedian Alistair MCGowan and planet-friendly group Greenpeace purchased a plot of land in the middle of the development site in a bid to halt the plans.