MPs in third runway toxic air warning

MINISTERS were today accused of giving the green light to a third runway at Heathrow on a “wing and a prayer” that it will not breach EU toxic air rules.

The Commons environmental audit committee demanded the Government set out how another runway could be built at the airport without increasing the number of serious breaches of air quality limits in the capital.

The committee’s Labour chairwoman Mary Creagh said: “At the moment we can’t see how the third runway can be built and run without exceeding the legal limits on air pollution and breaching the UK’s carbon budgets It’s a huge infrastructure project. It can’t be built just on a wing and a prayer and hoping that something will turn up.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added: “The Government should abandon the expansion of Heathrow — they have failed to show how they can avoid noisier skies and even filthier air.”

Mrs Creagh also said that there were “no guarantees” that EU air pollution regulations will not be watered down in the longer term after Brexit.

A report commissioned by the Government suggested that a third runway may not be able to open before 2025 without risking breaching EU air pollution limits.

However, the Airports Commission has argued that Heathrow should be allowed to expand provided it did not delay London complying with EU regulations, meaning that it could go ahead as long as there was a worse air pollution hotspot in the capital.

Ministers have refused to clarify what test they will use to assess whether a bigger Heathrow is leading to breaches of toxic air rules. But a Department for Transport spokesman said: “We have been very clear that the new runway will not get the go-ahead unless air quality requirements can be met.”