“It’s absurd that United Kingdom government ministers are touting “Green Britain” in Paris while beating the drum for more climate changing pollution through a new runway back home”.
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He said: “Importantly it is not just us that has been saying that”.
The Department for Transport said approving runway expansion would be a “complex and challenging decision” and the commission’s air quality analysis needed to be tested using the latest projected future concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. “It must be Gatwick – and we need to get on with it”.
Patrick McLoughlin, Transport Secretary, arrives at Downing Street for the government’s weekly cabinet meeting on November 17, 2015 in London, England. “We should be in that position”.
There are three options – a third runway at Heathrow, which business groups favour, a second runway at Gatwick Airport, or extending an existing runway at Heathrow.
“We will also continue to talk to all our neighbours, listen and incorporate their feedback into our plans to ensure a new, expanded Heathrow is delivered safely and sustainably”.
Delaying a decision would allow the London mayoral election to take place without the political fallout that would result if Heathrow is allowed to build a third runway.
Longworth said expansion at other airports is needed as well, and ministers need to “stop prevaricating and get on with doing what the country sorely needs”.
Labour MP and Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan accused the Government of “kicking the decision into the long grass” to avoid embarrassing the Conservative Mayoral candidate.
“Every week that passes has a direct cost to the United Kingdom economy, its global connectivity and reputation”.
The commission confirmed that expanding Heathrow would have the biggest economic benefits for the United Kingdom and can be done while reducing noise for local communities and within European Union air quality limits.
Meanwhile the British Chamber of Commerce said the move was “gutless”. But Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye insisted he was “confident we can meet tough environmental standards”.
“This additional work will enable certainty to be established about the conditions to be attached to approval”, it said in a statement.
David Laws, Chief Executive at Newcastle International Airport, said: “We are disappointed at the failure of the Government to make a decision in favour of a third runway at Heathrow”.
“It is vital that a decision on a new runway is now taken within months”.
Following the announcement yesterday that a decision on a third runway at Heathrow will be delayed until next summer, the Royal Borough has said it will continue to campaign against the decision.
London mayor Boris Johnson, who has advocated building a completely new airport in the Thames Estuary, said the difficulties of expanding Heathrow were becoming “very, very obvious”.
The PM’s spokeswoman pointed out that the Davies report identified a need for extra capacity in the South East by 2030. He instead urged that “proper” consideration be given to developing a new airport to the east of the capital – a choice that would offer the greatest economic potential, he said.
She added: “We urgently need to increase our runway capacity to spur trade growth, investment and job creation”.
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After this the government said it would come to a decision “by the end of the year” on such an expansion.
