Johnson told to quit for bulldozer remark

After promising to lie before a bulldozer if plans for the controversial third runway at Heathrow were cleared, foreign secretary Boris Johnson has faced calls to resign.

The third runway is expected to increase trade and routes to India, besides providing jobs to thousands of people of Indian origin based in nearby Southall and Hayes.

Considered the biggest infrastructure project in Britain since World War 2, the third runway at the busy airport will involve flattening some nearby villages.

Johnson is part of Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet that cleared the project earlier this month, and Monday’s vote in the House of Commons will put the final seal on the project.

Facing growing calls to resign, Johnson claimed doing so would not achieve anything and continued to doubt whether the £14 billion runway, expected to be completed by 2026 with private capital, would be built at all.

Johnson, who is abroad and will miss voting in the House of Commons on Friday, wrote to his constituents: “I have made clear my opposition since joining the government, and I will continue to lobby colleagues from within government. Some critics have suggested that I should resign over the issue. No doubt they have my best interests at heart.”

LONDON: