Project at Europe’s busiest airport at heart of infrastructure-led growth drive
PUBLISHED : 29 Jan 2025 at 21: 19
A British Airways passenger plane takes off behind houses next to land earmarked for a third runway at Longford near Heathrow Airport in west London on Jan 28. (Photo: Reuters)
EYNSHAM, England – British finance minister Rachel Reeves gave the government’s backing to a long-delayed new runway at London’s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday as the centrepiece of her plan to speed up the country’s sluggish economy.
Reeves, under pressure to address concerns about growth after a bond market selloff this month, also listed plans for new wind farms and reservoirs and a “growth corridor” between the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Announcing support for a third runway at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, Reeves said past delays had cast doubt among investors over the seriousness of successive governments to do what is needed to open new export markets.
“We cannot duck the decision any longer,” Reeves said in a speech at a medical equipment plant operated by Siemens Healthineers near Oxford.
She denied the increase in flights would undermine Britain’s net zero commitments but campaigners and London Mayor Sadiq Khan — a senior figure in the governing Labour Party — said they opposed the move on climate concerns.
Reeves is seeking to address fears that Britain’s economy is growing too slowly to reduce its
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