The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has thrown his weight behind Gatwick Airport’s controversial second runway despite opposition from environmental campaigners.
Sir Keir spoke to Metro at Downing Street just hours after Gatwick’s plan to open its emergency runway for routine use was given a green light by the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander.
The plan will create 14,000 jobs and inject up to £1 billion into the economy, but campaigners and residents have not been swayed.
The PM defended the decision after accusations that airport expansion projects at Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton could hit the government’s net zero targets.
Sir Keir insisted that it is possible to ‘do both’ – support growth and meet Britain’s climate targets.
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When asked whether he is a climate doomer, the PM told Metro: ‘I strongly believe that we can get this right, which means we can have the expansion of the growth that we need at the same time as meeting our climate obligations, and we can do both.
‘In other words, you don’t have to choose one or the other.
‘You don’t have to sort of say to people nobody can travel in the way they want anymore.
‘I think that would be completely the wrong thing to do.
‘But at the same time we are developing our sustainable fuels and other action that will mitigate in relation to the climate.
‘So this is one of those situations where, because of the way we’ve approached it, you can actually do both – yes, allow people to travel for work, for pleasure, to go on holiday.
‘Everybody wants to do that, but at the same time, make that consistent with our climate obligations.’
Sir Keir said previous governments have been ‘complacent’ about UK’s infrastructure ‘for many years.’
‘We thought we’d build enough infrastructure, but we actually didn’t. It’s not enough.
‘It’s creaking.’
He told Metro that the increased demand at Gatwick and bringing the second runway into regular use is ‘really good’ and that the area is already ‘a huge magnet for really good, well paid jobs.’
Sir Keir said: ‘Obviously, as part of the package, you would expect, there are noise conditions, to make sure that it doesn’t add significantly to noise for local people.
‘And a condition that public transport must be used for over half the people going to Gatwick.
‘But look, for the people, local people for jobs, it’s really good.
‘It’s obviously great for businesses, travel, and those people who want to go on holiday because the increased size of the airport means more passengers getting through up to 80 million.’
The UK’s second busiest airport wants to add around 100,000 more flights every year, which is set to boost passenger numbers to 80 million annually.
The £2,200,000,000 project – funded privately – will see the emergency runway moved 39 feet further north so that it can be used at the same time as the main airstrip.
Meanwhile, a government source argued that giving the plan the go-ahead is ‘a no-brainer for growth’ due to ‘capacity constraints holding back business, trade and tourism.’
But campaigners are up in arms about the decision after concerns over noise, and the impact on local roads and the environment.
Green Party’s new leader Zack Polanski described the decision as a ‘disaster.’
He said: ‘It ignores basic climate science and risks undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
‘Labour keeps wheeling out the same nonsense about growth, but at what cost? What this really means is more pollution, more noise for local communities, and no real economic benefit.’
Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr said it ‘smacks of desperation, completely ignoring the solid evidence that increasing air travel won’t drive economic growth.’
CAGNE, the umbrella organisation representing residents and environmental groups in the wider area, said the decision was ‘misguided.’ It said the group is standing by to launch a legal challenge.
Flights could be taking off from the second runway by 2029, Metro understands.
Stewart Wingate, the managing director for Vinci Airports, said: ‘After a lengthy and rigorous planning process, we welcome the Government’s approval of plans to bring our Northern Runway into routine use, ahead of the expected deadline.
‘This is another important gateway in the planning process for this £2.2bn investment, which is fully funded by our shareholders and will unlock significant growth, tourism and trade benefits for London Gatwick and the UK and create thousands of jobs.
‘As we’ve said previously, it is essential that any planning conditions enable us to realise the full benefits of the project and do not impose unnecessary constraints that make it uneconomic to invest in.
‘We now need to carefully examine the details of the planning consent. Once we have done that, we will be able to comment further.’
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