Evening Standard comment: At last, bold political leadership on Heathrow

At last, the Government has declared its support for expanding Heathrow and is backing a third runway. For that unequivocal statement of intent, the Prime Minister deserves real credit; she made the decision in the national interest, and her decisiveness is in contrast to the equivocation of her predecessors.

It is, of course, not the end of the story. There will be, as there probably must be, a year-long consultation before the issue is put to MPs. Local councils and environmental groups will deploy their formidable legal firepower to oppose expansion.

The actual construction time means there is no possibility, even if everything goes to plan, of planes landing on a third runway before 2020 and probably not for long after that. But allowing for all this, the great thing is the political die has been cast: the Government has declared itself. And that marks a change from the extraordinary procrastination that has marked the politics of airport expansion for decades.

This paper has been open-minded about which choice the Government should make of the three options on offer: extending the runway at Heathrow, or building a new one there or at Gatwick. Our preference would have been for expansion both at Heathrow and Gatwick, but we recognise that the important thing is that a decision should be made at all. Now it has.

As the Prime Minister observed this week, the issue of airport expansion in the South-East has been “debated, discussed and speculated on for 40 years”. Back in 2009 Gordon Brown approved a third runway at Heathrow but David Cameron overturned his decision.

Four years ago Mr Cameron appointed the Airports Commission to look again at the issue under Sir Howard Davies but as Sir Howard put it, “my work looked to have been an interesting but ultimately fruitless exercise”.

Political obfuscation by MPs and ministers meant the issue spent years in the long grass.

Simon Jenkins today gives a bleak account of the about-turns that characterised the treatment of this crucial issue. In fact, today’s decision validates Sir Howard’s conclusion that a third runway at Heathrow is the best option. Industry will welcome that.

We can expect more political obstruction before a runway is built from everyone from the Foreign Secretary down; but the Government must, while respecting due process, do everything in its power to make the runway happen as soon as possible. With every delay it becomes more expensive; the cost of compensation for homeowners is estimated to be 75 per cent greater now than it was 13 years ago when the third runway was first proposed.

This does not mean that Gatwick cannot also expand. It does not face quite the critical problems with capacity that Heathrow does but it is also under pressure and it is unlikely to take today’s decision as a veto on its chances of a new runway in the near or medium term.

Brexit has given a new urgency to this decision. It is more important than ever that Britain should signal to the world that it is open for business and that London in particular is a centre for global trade. The announcement is an expression of the Government’s determination that London should be more outward-looking, not less, post-Brexit.

This decision is an indication of confidence in the future, and can generate a mood and momentum of its own. China recently decided to allow British flights to many more of its regional airports; we must continue to expand our connections there and to other countries with whom we will trade in the future.

It will be years before planes land on the third runway at Heathrow but the very fact we now know where we stand makes a real difference.

Heathrow Airport through the years - In pictures

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The Prime Minister has made a bold move today and we applaud her decision.

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