SNP: We back a third runway for Heathrow
NATIONALIST ministers have confirmed they still support the expansion of Britain’s biggest airport – but refused to say if Nicola Sturgeon ordered her MPs to abstain in the crucial Commons vote.
Former Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, who became Justice Secretary in yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle, welcomed the Westminster vote backing a third runway at Heathrow Airport, despite Nationalist MPs refusing to support the proposals.
But opponents accused the SNP abstainers in the vote of a ‘grievance-stoking stunt’.
And Mr Yousaf yesterday repeatedly avoided answering questions about whether or not Miss Sturgeon instructed her MPs to abstain. Mr Yousaf faced questions on the issue at Holyrood in the place of former Economy Secretary Keith Brown, who had been scheduled to answer a topical question on the issue but was ousted in yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle. Mr Brown had previously said the expansion of Heathrow would create ‘a minimum of 100 direct jobs’.
Yesterday, Mr Yousaf said: ‘The Scottish Government welcomes the fact that the third runway project is now moving to the stage of Heathrow applying for a development consent order, but notes that some members of Parliament across all the political parties were not persuaded to support the UK Government’s national policy statement.
‘It is now incumbent on the UK Government to build more confidence in the process and to set out more clearly the economic benefits that a third runway at Heathrow can deliver throughout the UK.
‘The Scottish Government’s position remains that Scotland should benefit proportionately from the new runway capacity and that that
‘I made that position clear’
should be subject to guarantee. We note the Secretary of State for Transport’s commitment to 200 additional weekly flights for Scotland, which was made during last night’s Westminster debate. However, we await the detail of that.’
Asked if he ‘wholeheartedly’ supports the expansion, he said: ‘Yes, we still support the third runway at Heathrow. I made that position clear in my opening answer.
‘I know that Tory MSPs are used to rolling over and doing whatever Theresa May tells them whenever she wants. Our MPs are absolutely right to demand that they get castiron guarantees around the 200 additional flights. We also need confidence on the climate considerations.’
Tory transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘The minister says that the Scottish Government somehow supports a third runway at Heathrow, but it begs the question why his MPs at Westminster did not support it. The new runway was backed by the First Minister, the finance secretary, the economy secretary and even the transport minister himself yet, when it came to the crucial vote, the SNP abstained. It ducked out in another grievance-stoking stunt at Westminster.’
Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles also pressed Mr Yousaf on ‘whether it was the First Minister who instructed SNP MPs to abstain’. Mr Yousaf responded: ‘I note – there may be a very good reason for this – that not all of the Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs voted in favour of the third runway.’