5 Sep 2012

Boris calls on government to end Heathrow uncertainty

London mayor Boris Johnson calls on the government to end uncertainty over a third runway at Heathrow after the reshuffle increased speculation that further expansion was back on the agenda.

Mr Johnson, who was elected on a mandate of opposing a third runway, said a government u-turn on the issue would be “a profound mistake” and argued that the proposal would not be deliverable.

“It would do massive environmental damage, not just for west London but across the city,” he told reporters. “There are much, much better solutions that will deliver long term growth and jobs.”

Mr Johnson on Tuesday accused the government of plotting to ditch its policy of refusing a third runway at Heathrow, after appointing Patrick McLoughlin transport secretary in place of Justine Greening, a vocal opponent of expansion at the airport.

The move followed weeks of speculation that the Treasury is become more receptive to business’s argument that the UK’s growth is threatened by the lack of capacity at the west London aviation hub.

‘Anxiety’

Mr Johnson said he accepted that the main reason for Ms Greening’s move to international development was not to ease the way for a third runway.

But he said that there was a “great deal of anxiety” over suggestions that a U-turn is in progress and demanded that the government end the uncertainty.

The London mayor is an advocate of building a completely new airport in the Thames Estuary to meet the demand for extra air capacity in the capital.

A report for architects Foster and Partners recently argued that it would barely take longer to develop a new aviation hub on the Isle of Grain in Kent than it would to extend Heathrow.

Mr Johnson argued that the Thames Estuary alternative would be better than “trying to impose a third runway on London”. Political opponents have previously described the scheme as “preposterous”.