Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Shameless Boris takes off to dodge vote on Heathrow
Runway opponent jets to Afghanistan
BORIS Johnson was mocked by Tory MPS after scuttling 3,500 miles to Afghanistan to dodge a crunch vote on Heathrow.
The Foreign Secretary once vowed to “lie down in front of bulldozers” at the airport to prevent a third runway, which was set to win approval in the Commons last night.
Ministers were ordered to back the £14billion scheme – meaning Mr Johnson, whose constituency is close to Heathrow, would have had to quit Cabinet to vote against the project.
So his disappearing act caused fury and indignation among leading members in his party.
Backing calls for Mr Johnson to quit, former Tory Minister Rob Halfon said: “I think he would be respected by his constituents.”
Top Tory Sarah Wollaston told the BBC: “Just being conveniently out of the country I’m afraid won’t wash.”
Ex-trade Minister Greg Hands, who quit so he could oppose the runway, tweeted: “Great to arrive back in the UK at Luton Airport to vote against Heathrow expansion. I wouldn’t want to be abroad.”
Former Education Secretary Justine Greening replied: “Great you’re back Greg! I wouldn’t want any long term MP campaigners against Heathrow expansion to miss their chance #bulldozer.”
Mr Johnson rejected the calls to resign, claiming it would achieve “absolutely nothing”.
He was pictured meeting Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai in Kabul to discuss “peace and a political settlement”. Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn signalled he could scrap Heathrow expansion if in power. He said: “We would look very carefully at airport capacity. There is under-used capacity at both Luton and Stansted, and a need, I think, to up the usage of Birmingham and other airports. “Manchester is developing as a hub as well. Not everybody wants to fly to London.”