Labour blocking Heathrow runway in ‘cynical’ U-turn

LABOUR was accused of a ‘cynical’ U-turn after it dropped its long- standing support for expanding Heathrow airport days before a Commons vote.

Having backed plans for a third runway for more than 15 years, the party’s leadership announced yesterday it now opposes them.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the plans failed four tests including improving air quality and limiting noise for local residents.

At the same time, he announced Labour MPs would be allowed a free vote when the Commons considers the issue on Monday and urged other parties to follow suit.

The move will help Labour avoid an embarrassing rebellion by its MPs, while the leadership – including shadow chancellor John McDonnell, whose constituency includes the airport – will hope it will persuade more to vote against the plans.

The decision to allow a free vote prompted suggestions that Labour was simply making it easy for its MPs to vote for the third runway despite the party’s stated opposition.

Denying it was ‘dishonest’, Mr McDonald told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I recognise the reality and I’m a pragmatist. We’ve always said we would judge these proposals against those tests and they have failed them and I can only tell it as it is.’

Polls suggest 75 per cent of MPs support the expansion of Heathrow, including 82 per cent of Tories and 63 per cent of Labour.

Crispin Blunt, Tory MP for Reigate and a prominent supporter of the plans, said: ‘John McDonnell has used his influence over Labour’s official front-bench policy to promote his view of his constituents’ interests. He will find that very many – probably a majority – of his own colleagues find that as cynical and disreputable as it is damaging to the national interest.’

The country’s biggest trade union Unite refused to criticise Labour’s last-minute change of policy but said: ‘We are urging all MPs to back expansion at Heathrow and to back jobs. The key for us is ensuring the vote is passed.’

Other unions including the GMB, TUC and British Airline Pilots’ Association have also urged MPs to vote for expansion, saying a third runway would ‘unlock thousands of jobs and millions of pounds in economic benefits at a critical time for workers across the UK’.

There will be an extra 260,000 flights from the airport if the third runway is approved.

A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘We are disappointed Labour have disregarded much of the evidence on how their four tests will be met by Heathrow expansion. We are confident Parliament will make the right choice and vote for Heathrow expansion.’