Former Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick says Heathrow's expansion plans meet Labour's 'four key tests' - and urges his colleagues to back the proposals.
On Monday, MPs will have the opportunity to vote on the Government’s Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) to approve a new runway at Heathrow Airport.
As a Labour MP representing a London constituency and former Transport Minister, I welcome this long-due opportunity to vote on this critical issue. It will create a rigorous framework to meet the challenges of capacity constraints for passengers and exporters using Heathrow – and ensure the realisation of economic benefits from expansion for London and the UK as a whole.
This issue goes beyond party politics in all senses and is fundamentally important to London’s, and the UK’s, economic future as well as for jobs across the country. We have delayed this long enough – and it has put our capital city and our country at a significant disadvantage.
Whilst airports in other parts of Europe and across the Middle East have expanded, the UK’s only hub airport has lagged behind and valuable opportunities for trade and investment have been lost to hub competitors.
Heathrow offers the best opportunities for the UK economy, tens of thousands of new jobs for the country, while meeting stringent standards around noise and environmental impacts. Construction of a third runway will also give a crucial boost for the UK’s construction and steel sectors.
This is part of the reason that Heathrow expansion has won the support of the TUC and major trade unions, including Unite, GMB and Community.
In 2015, Labour set out our tests for supporting the expansion of Heathrow, which have been maintained by our Shadow Transport Secretaries since.
Since the Airports Commission reported back, Heathrow has demonstrated how it will meet or exceed the demands of both the Commission and Labour’s tests – including action on air quality and surface access, as well as the establishment of Logistics Hubs and supply chain events across the country to ensure that the new runway provides opportunities for small businesses in every part of the country.
The Transport Select Committee has identified some areas on which Heathrow needs to go further and the Chief Executive of the airport has responded positively to this challenge.
It is my view that the plans Heathrow has set out on noise, air quality, carbon and regional growth are robust and on this basis, I urge colleagues to support the expansion of Heathrow.
With the UK facing some of the most challenging economic circumstances we have faced for years, the time has come for Parliament to make this decision and avoid further years of lost opportunities.
This is too important a decision for our country to allow it to become a political football – not least one that will be kicked into the long grass.
Jim Fitzpatrick is MP for Poplar and Limehouse and is a former Labour Transport Minister.
This is part of several articles on Heathrow expansion over the coming days. Got a view? Email editor@leftfootforward.org.
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McDonnell suggests Labour will oppose Heathrow expansion | Left Foot Forward
[…] hosted a debate on the issue – with Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick (who is leaving parliament) supporting the expansion and Green peer Jenny Jones opposing […]