Expansion plans at Heathrow and other UK airports will only go ahead if they comply with the UK’s net zero agenda, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband has said.
His comments, to the Commons Environmental Audit Committee on Monday, follow renewed speculation that the Government will announce its support for a third runway at Heathrow within days.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is understood to use a speech on Wednesday to say she supports expansion plans for Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton.
But Mr Miliband told the committee he wanted to reassure MPs that ‘100% any aviation expansion must be justified within carbon budgets, and if it can’t be justified, it won’t go ahead’.
The Chancellor spoke to the Labour Parliamentary Party (PLP) on Monday evening about her plans to build infrastructure, although she did not mention Heathrow specifically.
Sky News reports there had been ‘overwhelming support’ among the PLP and that the only dissenting voice was Transport Select Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury.
