Boris given ‘a licence to rebel’ over Heathrow

BORIS JOHNSON has been given a ‘licence to rebel’ over plans to build a third runway at Heathrow to avoid destabilising the Government during the critical phase of the Brexit negotiations.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is expected this week to set out the noise, air quality and cost requirements of the project, before paving the way for a Commons vote by the end of June.

A two-mile runway is planned northwest of the existing airport, allowing an additional 260,000 flights a year by late 2025.

The Foreign Secretary – who once said he was prepared to lie down ‘in front of bulldozers’ to stop the airport’s expansion – has not changed his view that a third runway would be a ‘disaster’ and ‘barbarically contemptuous of the rights of t he population’ by putting their health at risk.

The Uxbridge MP has l ong advocated instead the quixotic option of providing additional landing capacity by building a new ‘Boris Island’ airport in the Thames Estuary. Now, to avoid the embarrassment of the Foreign Secretary voting against the Government, MPs are likely to be given a free vote on the issue.

Heathrow claims three-quarters of MPs back the new runway, but the Parliamentary arithmetic is complicated by the fact that Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, whose constituency includes the airport, is also opposed.

Business groups argue that with Heathrow operating at 98 per cent capacity, expansion is vital for economic growth – an issue made more urgent by the need to strike post-Brexit trade deals.

Mr Johnson will also be leaned on to be more muted in his criticism by only giving interviews on the subject to regional media.

A source close to Mr Johnson said: ‘He hasn’t changed his mind on the issue and isn’t likely to do so now.’