Rachel Reeves is ready to again a 3rd runway at Heathrow Airport as a part of a bid to fight flatlining progress
Ministers are poised to approve expansion plans at three major airports as part of a bid to combat flatlining growth, it was claimed last night.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering announcing the move in a speech later this month on her plans for boosting growth, Bloomberg reported.
The Lower Thames Crossing project, a proposed new road that would connect Kent and Essex by a tunnel beneath the River Thames, is also poised to be approved, as well as a Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire.
But the move risks angering climate change campaigners and fellow Cabinet colleagues such as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who will see it as a threat to the government’s strict net-zero plans.
Mr Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan have opposed a third runway at Heathrow and even Sir Keir Starmer voted against it in 2018, meaning the move would be a U-turn for the PM.
The plan’s backers are understood to have decided that growth had to be put above climate concerns and noise objections by ministers such as Mr Miliband and backbenchers representing constituencies in and around the three airports.
Ms Reeves has said that economic growth is her ‘number one mission’ and it is thought that opposing airport expansions would have been hard to justify given this.
It is understood that ministers will attempt to contain any political backlash by arguing that the environmental impact will be minimised by the so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate that enters into force this year.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering announcing the move in a speech later this month on her plans for boosting growth
The plan’s backers are understood to have decided that growth had to be put above climate concerns and noise objections
Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan has argued that a third runway would ‘have a damaging impact on air quality, noise and London’s ability to achieve net zero carbon’
This forces airlines to use a certain amount of greener jet fuel annually.
The move will also be seen as an attempt by Ms Reeves to get her faltering Chancellorship back on track after her Budget was last week blamed for the pound taking another battering on the financial markets, stuttering growth and surging borrowing costs.
Last week’s turmoil saw the Daily Mail brand Ms Reeves one of ‘Two Lame Ducks’ on our front page.
A Government spokesperson said: ‘We are determined to get our economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UK’s aviation sector.
‘All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth, which is central to our Plan for Change, while remaining in line with existing environmental obligations.’
