Reeves says 'growth trumps other things' amid Heathrow expansion speculation
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Rachel Reeves is gearing up to challenge key Labour figures who oppose Heathrow expansion, arguing that economic growth outweighs other issues. The Chancellor is set to back the third runway at Heathrow in an upcoming speech on growth, as well as expansions at Gatwick and Luton Airports.
This stance is likely to spark a clash with environmentalists and senior Labour members like London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, both of whom have previously opposed Heathrow's third runway. Sir Sadiq was re-elected in 2024 on an anti-airport expansion platform, and even Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted against Heathrow's expansion in June 2018.
While Ms Reeves declined to comment on "speculation" about Heathrow, she highlighted the government's support for enlarging London City and Stansted Airports. At a Bloomberg event in Davos, when asked about potential conflicts with Sir Sadiq and Mr Miliband over Heathrow, she criticised the previous government's indecisiveness, saying: "This was the problem with the last government – that there was always somebody that said: ‘Oh yes, of course we want to grow the economy but we don’t like that investment, we don’t like that wind farm, we don’t like those pylons, we don’t like that airport, we don’t want that housing near us’.".
The Chancellor expressed a firm stance on prioritising growth, stating: "But the answer can’t always be ‘no’ and that’s been the problem in Britain for a long time, that when there was a choice between something that would grow the economy and anything else, anything else always won.
