Once in a while you want to cheer out loud. For those obliged to negotiate the squalor and delays of London's Heathrow, publication of the Competition Commission's plan to put an end to monopoly ownership of Britain's airports was such a moment. In my case, the satisfaction was all the richer for having just spent a few hours amid the cramped chaos of arrivals at Terminal 3.

After years of burning frustration born of interminable queues, dismal facilities, lost baggage and delayed flights, it was nice to know there is some, albeit belated, justice in our capitalist world. Christopher Clarke, the chairman of the commission's inquiry, is as deserving of an honour as the medal-loaded British athletes returning yesterday from Beijing.