OPINION - It will be messy and painful, but Britain can't afford to reject a third runway at Heathrow
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Labour has been heavily criticised for its lack of compelling overarching vision for the country. But if there are two themes that do define this Government, they are the commitment to make Britain a world leading net zero green superpower, and the elusive quest for economic growth.
![[Just Stop Oil Heathrow Protest]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/07/30/9/47/Just-Stop-Oil-Heathrow-Protest-hdd3tog4.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
The two ambitions are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The massive planned investment in offshore wind generating capacity for example will obviously require huge private sector investment. But claims that Rachel Reeves is planning to give her backing to a third runway at Heathrow Airport clearly puts them on a collision course that could rupture the Cabinet in the most spectacular fashion.
If the reports are to be believed the Chancellor will give her blessing, on behalf of the Government, to the privately funded scheme, last priced at £14 billion, but now likely to cost far more. That will not by itself make it a slam dunk that it will happen, the project will still have to trundle through what is likely to be an inevitably protracted fresh consultation and planning application process.
![[London airport plans could add 'another Heathrow' to capital's aviation capacity]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/10/07/14/04/thirdrunway.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Environmental groups have already drawn their battle lines ready for the long war ahead, arguing that, in the words of Greenpeace UK “the hope that a strip of tarmac will nudge up the UK’s GDP smacks of desperation”. Far more significant will be the stance of Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband who said in 2018, when the Commons last voted for the scheme that he opposed it “on grounds of both climate change and air pollution”. One can only assume his position has not changed in the intervening six years.
![[An economy making unhappy noises, major own goals... Rachel Reeves needs a vibe shift]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/16/09/4b38bd882c241044fdf260bb09f18071Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MTA0MTc0-2.78702522.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
