Chancellor hits back in row with Sadiq Khan over Heathrow expansion
Chancellor says if Britain wants a strong economy the answer ‘can't always be 'no'’ to projects that will create growth
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The Chancellor has hit back in the escalating row with Sir Sadiq Khan and other senior Labour figures over Heathrow Airport expansion.
Rachel Reeves on Wednesday said if Britain wants a strong economy the answer “can't always be 'no'” to projects that will create growth.
In a speech next week, Ms Reeves is expected to support the proposed third runway at Heathrow and endorse expansion at Gatwick and Luton Airports, despite fierce opposition from some within her own party.
The Mayor of London has threatened legal action if the expansion goes ahead.
Sir Sadiq, who has said he is against any airport growth due to the UK’s net zero goals, also argued that Gatwick getting permission to operate a second runway would destroy the west London airport’s argument for needing another of their own.
At a Bloomberg event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ms Reeves said she would not comment on "speculation", but pointed out that the Government has already taken "big decisions" by backing expansion plans at London City and Stansted Airports.
She added: "This was the problem with the last government - that there was always somebody that said: 'Oh yes, of course we want to grow the economy but we don't like that investment, we don't like that wind farm, we don't like those pylons, we don't like that airport, we don't want that housing near us'.
"But the answer can't always be 'no' and that's been the problem in Britain for a long time, that when there was a choice between something that would grow the economy and anything else, anything else always won.
"Now, of course, there are other things that matter, but when we say that growth is the number one mission of this Government, we mean it, and that means it trumps other things.”
In 2020 Heathrow won a Supreme Court challenge to build a third runway and can now seek planning permission. But the Government still has the final say on whether the project can go ahead.
Sir Sadiq last week said he “wouldn’t hesitate to launch, with partners and colleagues, legal challenge” if the Government backed the scheme.
He won a record third term in City Hall last year after campaigning against any expansion of airports in the capital.
Eight cabinet ministers, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have also previously spoken out against a third runway.
A computer image of an expanded Heathrow after the third runway has been built
Heathrow
Sir Keir voted against the airport expanding in June 2018.
Labour also gained MPs in ex-Tory strongholds in west London at the general election, including Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in Hillingdon.
Peter Curling, a Labour Hillingdon councillor, said: “For the avoidance of doubt, The Hillingdon Labour Group remains resolutely and unequivocally 100% against a 3rd Runway at Heathrow.
“We want a better Heathrow, not a bigger Heathrow."
The boss of easyJet said a third runway at Heathrow would open the door to the budget airline operating “at scale” for the first time at the UK’s biggest airport.
New CEO Kenton Jarvis said: "We welcome the decisive action by the Government to grow the economy.
"We've always said that aviation, the industry, is an enabler of economic growth.
"When it comes to Heathrow, I've always thought Heathrow would fit our network of primary airports with great catchment areas.
"It would be a unique opportunity to operate from Heathrow at scale - because obviously right now it's slot-constrained - and give us an opportunity to provide lower fares for UK consumers that currently at Heathrow just have the option of flag carriers.”
Opponents of airport expansion claim boosting flights would be damaging for the environment.
Alethea Warrington, head of aviation at climate charity Possible, said: "Approving airport expansions would be a catastrophic misstep for a Government which claims to be a climate leader.
"This huge increase in emissions won't help our economy, and would just encourage the small group of frequent flyers who take most of the flights, further worsening the UK's huge tourism deficit."
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