Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon Barred From Latitude Festival

Geoff Hoon's hopes of returning to the Latitude festival again appear to have been dashed after organisers banned him from attending the event in future.

The transport secretary, who makes an annual pilgrimage to the eco-friendly festival in Suffolk, has come under fire since taking the decision to build a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Melvyn Benn, director of Latitude, told the Guardian it would be “strange” to allow Hoon back into the event.

Hoon faced the wrath of British actress and anti-Heathrow expansion campaigner Emma Thompson over the weekend after he accused her of leading a jet-setting lifestyle.

In response, Thompson said: "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,"

Benn, who said Mr Hoon could often be seen at Latitude “striding across the fields in his shorts to the puzzled amazement of our slightly younger crowd”, said the Transport Secretary would receive a ticket for life if he overturned the expansion plans.

This year's Latitude festival will take place from July 16th-19th.

You can see highlights from the 2008 event by clicking the links below:

Latitude Festival, Day One – CLICK HERE
Latitude Festival, Day Two – CLICK HERE
Latitude Festival, Day Three – CLICK HERE