Rachel Reeves today warned Cabinet opponents of Heathrow expansion they will have to fall into line, as she pushed the case for a third runway to boost growth.
The Chancellor signalled she will use a major speech on the economy this week to give the green light to the expansion of Britain’s biggest airport, despite bitter divisions within the Cabinet over the issue.
In a further sign of the Government’s dash for growth, ministers tonight slipped out new planning proposals to fast-track the approval of massive solar farms in the countryside.
Ms Reeves said ‘a lot has changed’ since 2018 when seven current members of the Cabinet, including Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband, voted against plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
A government source last night said the Prime Minister was now ‘in complete agreement’ with the Chancellor over the issue, despite his past misgivings.
Mr Miliband, who has warned expansion would derail efforts to hit Britain’s climate targets, remains opposed but has said he will not quit the Cabinet over the issue.
Ms Reeves stopped short of confirming a decision on Heathrow ahead of her speech on Wednesday. But, speaking in a round of broadcast interviews, she publicly made the case for a third runway, saying that economic growth and sustainable aviation ‘go hand in hand’.
‘A lot of changed in terms of aviation. A sustainable aviation fuel is changing carbon emissions from flying,’ she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show.
‘There’s huge investment going on in electric planes, and also a third runway will mean that instead of circling London, flights can land at Heathrow.’
The Chancellor stressed that ministers have already ‘signed off’ expansion at Gatwick and London City Airport, saying: ‘We are getting on and delivering, that will be good for investment and trade in our country and also good for families wanting to go on cheaper holidays as well.’
She also warned that ministers opposed to Heathrow expansion will be expected to fall into line, telling Sky News the decision would be bound by ‘full collective ministerial responsibility’.
Today it emerged that Ms Reeves herself opposed the expansion of Leeds-Bradford Airport, close to her own constituency, in 2020, arguing that it would undermine a commitment by Leeds to become a ‘carbon neutral city’ by 2030.
Her new approach came amid a flurry of announcements designed to show Labour is serious about boosting growth after a record tax-raising Budget and gloomy talk from ministers were blamed for bringing the economy to a standstill.
In a surprise move, which puts her on collision course with Mr Miliband, the Chancellor last week said that economic growth would now take priority over the Government’s controversial Net Zero plans.
The Treasury today announced proposals to scrap the use of ‘voluminous and costly’ environmental impact assessments in the planning system.
Last week, the Prime Minister announced plans to curb the right of protesters to tie up projects in the courts by bringing repeated judicial reviews on flimsy grounds.
Today, Ms Reeves indicated that she will toughen welfare rules in the spring in a bid to slash the £8.6 billion annual bill for benefit fraud and error and get more people back to work.
A new planning document slipped out proposes introducing a ‘more flexible regime’ for considering applications to build major solar farms in the countryside.
Ministers have faced criticism for riding roughshod over local opposition in order to approve the installation of solar panels across huge areas of high quality farmland that could otherwise be used for food production.
Last week, Mr Miliband signed off approval for a controversial 1,500-acre solar farm in Lincolnshire put forward by Ecotricity, the renewable power firm owned by Labour donor Dale Vince.
But the new planning document warns that the process for approvals is still too slow and should be ‘streamlined’ as their number is ‘likely to grow rapidly to support the transition to clean power by 2030.’
The Chancellor and PM have both sounded the alarm about recent anaemic growth forecasts which threaten to undermine Labour’s ambitions in government.
Ms Reeves unveiled a new, more upbeat, approach designed to boost flagging business and consumer confidence.
‘We’re going to make it easier to get stuff built in Britain, whether that’s transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure or indeed housing,’ she said. ‘For too long, governments have backed the blockers and not the builders, and that’s going to change.’
The Chancellor acknowledged that her pro-growth rhetoric was similar to that of Liz Truss, but added: ‘Liz Truss and the numerous conservative prime ministers and chancellors of the last few years, didn’t do the practical things that were necessary to grow our economy. And that’s the difference.’
Ms Reeves urged international investors to ‘take another look at Britain, because under this government we are removing the barriers that have stopped you investing and getting stuff done in Britain for too long’.
In a marked shift from her gloomy pronouncements on the economy last year, she added: ‘I’m really excited and my enthusiasm and excitement for what this country has to offer has never burned brighter, and I’m determined that we’re going to go further and faster in delivering that growth so that we can improve the living standards of ordinary working people in our country.’