Clipping Britain's wings - Telegraph Care for the elderly is not the only issue on which tough decisions are needed, and soon. With every day that passes, the question of Britain's airport capacity becomes more pressing. It is not just the lengthy and seemingly ineradicable queues at Heathrow - although they are certainly an alarming portent for the Olympics - but the steadily growing drumbeat of warnings from business about Britain's ability to compete against its international rivals in the longer term (and, as the letter on this page today from construction firms says, to invest more generally in the infrastructure that we so desperately need). In terms of aviation, Britain's transport links with Asia and Latin America already lag behind its rivals": it is hard to reinvent yourself as a buccaneering trading nation, as the Government intends, when you have such poor transport connections. Nor will foreign businesses be knocking down the door to invest in Britain when they are perennially kept waiting by harassed immigration officers. In the short term, the bottlenecks must be eased; in the medium term, ways must be found to expand capacity at existing airports, by building extra runways and upgrading transport connections; and in the long term, a world-class hub airport is needed to maintain our status as a front-rank economy. All of which makes it all the more unfortunate that the Government's aviation review - which has been mouldering on a Whitehall desk since March - is being delayed yet again. Although the "policy framework" will be published as scheduled, the "call for evidence" - which actually sets out the options for solving these problems - is being delayed, in deference to the scruples of the Liberal Democrats. Compromise is part of coalition. But if Nick Clegg's men continue to clip Britain's wings, the economic damage will be felt for decades.