Heathrow expansion to get the go-ahead ‘within days’

HEATHROW is expected to be given the green light within days to build a third runway.

After years of delay, Prime Minister Theresa May is set to defy fierce opposition from key members of her Cabinet, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, to boost Britain’s airport capacity.

Campaigners predict that an announcement about Heathrow could be made by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in the Commons as early as Tuesday.

A decision to back Heathrow would be welcomed by business groups, which claim that expanding it will provide a much bigger boost to the economy than the alternative choice of a second runway at Gatwick.

But last night supporters of Gatwick were refusing to give up, and claimed the Government is also planning to leave the door open to expanding airport capacity there as well.

Insiders said Gatwick could be given approval within the next five years as its 30-year agreement with West Sussex local authorities not to expand is due to expire in 2019. However, senior Whitehall officials have questioned whether the finance would be available to fund two major runway projects.

It was also claimed last night that the Government plans to urge Birmingham Airport to push forward proposals for an additional runway – an option which was not even considered by the independent Airports Commission in its report, published more than a year ago, that backed Heathrow.

A Cambridge University study last week found a third runway at Heathrow could be built without breaching pollution laws, which had been seen as a key barrier to its expansion.

Tory MP for Reigate, Crispin Blunt, who leads an action group against Gatwick expansion, said last night: ‘It would be astonishing if the Government did not follow the recommendation from the Airports Commission for Heathrow.’

Louise Ellman MP, the Labour chairman of the Commons transport committee, said: ‘The Government has been dithering for too long. Expansion at Heathrow is in the interests of UK plc – any more delay means we lose out on trade.’

‘Dithering for too long’