Heathrow vote minister quits as Boris flies out
THERESA MAY yesterday suffered another resignation as Greg Hands quit over the Government’s support for the expansion of Heathrow airport, while Boris Johnson was given carte blanche to miss a key vote on the issue.
Mr Hands, an international trade minister, suggested the Government’s decision to whip Tory MPS to back the third runway meant he had no choice but to resign, having promised his constituents he would vote against the plans.
But Mr Johnson, an outspoken critic of the plans, has been given permission by the Prime Minister to skip the vote on Monday.
Mrs May said the Foreign Secretary would be the “living embodiment of global Britain” as she confirmed he would be out of the country in a move which spares the Prime Minister a potential headache over his future.
It also means Mr Johnson does not have to make a choice between supporting the Government’s position and honouring a pledge to his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to oppose the third runway. He previously said he would “lie down... in front of those bulldozers” to stop expansion.
Mrs May, conducting a joint press conference at Downing Street with Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, said the Government was “absolutely committed to increasing airport capacity at Heathrow”.
She added: “This is important. It is part of our future as global Britain, and the ambitions we have as a trading nation for the future.
“The Foreign Secretary early next week will be what I would describe as the living embodiment of global Britain. He will be out there actually showing the UK’S continued presence around the world...”
Mrs May’s Cabinet backed the third runway plan at the start of June and MPS will now be asked to formally give the plans the go-ahead.
The Government is expected to have enough support with Tory MPS facing a three line whip, while Labour MPS, many of whom support the plans, have been offered a free vote.
Mr Hands was replaced as international trade minister by George Hollingbery.