Heathrow battle:

FIFTY years of “dithering” over Heathrow airport must end and plans backed for a third runway, the Transport Secretary told MPs last night.

Speaking ahead of a key Commons vote tomorrow, Chris Grayling warned the country could no longer afford to wait for extra aviation capacity.

He said this was Parliament’s oppor- tunity to help deliver a stronger freetrading Britain after Brexit, following comments from John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, that a third runway amounts to a “Brexit bonus”.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Grayling said: “It only takes one runway at Heathrow to give us more capacity than the French and Germans have at their hub airports. The UK has been dithering over ex- panding Heathrow for half a century and the reality is that this country can no longer afford to wait for extra aviation capacity.

“While we’ve stood still, other countries have caught up and even overtaken us. A recent report ranked us alongside Serbia and Moldova as the only countries in Europe to lose direct international flights. That is unacceptable and the time for action is now.”

Last week Baroness Sugg, the aviation minister, said the result of the vote would come down to the support of Scottish Nationalist MPs, after they demanded assurances that Scotland would benefit.

Several Conservative MPs are preparing to defy their party’s whip, including Greg Hands, who resigned as trade minister last week in order to vote against the expansion. Boris John- son, the Foreign Secretary, Justine Greening, the former education secretary, and Zac Goldsmith, the former mayoral candidate, all oppose the move, although Mr Johnson is expected to undertake an official visit abroad tomorrow to avoid having to vote against the Government.