Chancellor John Healey has confirmed the Government's support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, marking a U-turn by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who previously criticised the expansion plans.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr Healey said the Government would move ahead with the proposal to build a third runway at the UK's largest airport.
"After years of delay, years of indecision, years of often vexatious challenge, we have given the go-ahead to this project quite simply because the economic case stacks up and will help bring growth," he said.
Previous Opposition
Mr Burnham previously warned that the expansion would divert infrastructure investment "away from the North and trap it in London". While still Mayor of Manchester, he also branded it a "model for an ever-overheating UK economy".
The Chancellor gave the update after being pressed on the future of the expansion by Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney, who branded it an "absurd proposal".
She said: "The former Chancellor invested a significant amount of political capital into driving forward the white elephant project of building a third runway at Heathrow on the basis it would deliver economic growth.
"But the Government's own appraisal report states that the net present value of expansion raises between minus £23.4billion to minus £62.5billion."
Criticism and Support
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also criticised the plans, citing possible impacts on air quality, noise pollution, the environment and other transport networks.
Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who championed the project before being ousted in July, described it as "critical to national growth".
Heathrow said the expansion plans will "ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive and will deliver all-important economic growth".
Project Details
The scheme is estimated to cost £33billion, including £1.5billion to move the M25 to build the runway, and is expected to be fully privately financed.
It would see the west London airport, which was surpassed by Istanbul as the busiest in Europe in July, increase its capacity to 150million passengers and 756,000 flights per year.
