AN MP who has campaigned against Heathrow Airport expansion has hit out at claims he is not fully committed to the cause.

Nick Hurd, Conservative MP for Ruislip and Northwood, defended his stance after being omitted from a list of supporters compiled by West London Friends of the Earth.

The campaign group sent a questionnaire to MPs with the aim of testing their commitment, but while the other Hillingdon MPs John Randall (Con) and John McDonnell (Lab) filled out the forms, Mr Hurd did not.

Mr Hurd said: "BAA and the Government are in no doubt that all three Hillingdon MPs are opposed to expansion. So I ignored the FoE questionnaire because I thought it was completely redundant.

"Frankly, it is ridiculous that MPs should be judged on whether we reply to questionnaires from campaigning organisations. I am happy to stand on my track record."

Nic Ferriday, aviation campaigner from FoE, said: "I understand that MPs are busy, but the difficulty I've got is I do not know why Mr Hurd is opposed to expansion. The point was to find out his motivation for oppostion.

"I have no evidence that he is opposed to climate change or air pollution, we just have no information from him on his views. He has been a strong supporter, but we're just trying to find out about these issues.

"If MPs are not genuinely concerned about the impacts and issues, constituents might conclude their MP is not actually onside and their alleged support is just a cynical ploy to save their seat in parliament."

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, spoke up in Mr Hurd's defence.

He said: "Nick's been incredibly supportive, he is solidly against expansion and has worked with me and John Randall to support our campaign in parliament. Friends of the Earth should know his position as he has campaigned so vociferously against it."

Mr Hurd added: "I have campaigned assiduously against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. This has taken various public forms -speeches in parliament, parliamentary questions, public meetings, and school visits.

"In addition I have done lots of private work in helping persuade the Conservative Party to harden its opposition to expansion."