Healey Makes the Growth Case for Heathrow as Burnham Holds Back
The chancellor has struck a markedly warmer note than the prime minister on a third runway. “The case for a third runway at Heathrow has always been a case for growth,” John Healey said in Bangkok. Andy Burnham has called it “a matter for London and Londoners”. The Department for Transport is reviewing consultation responses; Heathrow’s owners want the prime minister’s explicit backing before the end of the year.
Rachel Reeves made the runway the centrepiece of her growth argument; the Sunday Times has reported that Mr Burnham told the transport secretary he was “unconvinced”. The £33bn project would lift the cap on flights from 480,000 a year to 720,000, demolish hundreds of homes and put the M25 into a tunnel, and Heathrow has suggested opening could slip to 2039. Its owners, including the Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, are deciding whether to seek planning permission. “We cannot wait for ever,” warned the chief executive, Thomas Woldbye. Mr Healey voted for the runway in 2018.