Heathrow gets approval for big expansion

London, UK - April 20, 2016: British Airways airplanes at the terminal of London Heathrow international airport. Hillingdon, England, United Kingdom.
By Alexandra Coulton


Heathrow Airport is set to get a third runway following a parliamentary vote on Monday evening.

British MPs approved the new runway with an overwhelming 4135 to 119 majority, however, the expansion is expected to face legal action from Greenpeace, London mayor Sadiq Khan and some local councils reports Business Insider. 

The runway has been debated for over two decades, but fears over an uncertain post-Brexit future seem to have given parliament the final push.

According to the BBC, the vote has been welcomed by the business community, with groups like CBI hailing it as “A truly historic decision that will open the doors to a new era in the UK’s global trading relationships.”

However, environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth are strongly against the extension.

“MPs who backed this climate-wrecking new runway will be harshly judged by history,” the group said in a statement.

“The evidence on the accelerating climate crisis, which is already hitting the world’s most vulnerable people, is overwhelming – and expanding Heathrow will only intensify the misery.”

As the vote took place, police were forced to lock-down the area after 12 protesters against the expansion sprawled across the floor and began chanting.

The BBC reports Ministers are insisting the project will have built-in environmental protections, which will effectively fine Heathrow or ground aircraft if promises on night flights are broken.

The government also claims the expansion will be built with no cost to the taxpayer and will create 100,000 jobs plus benefits to the entire country through guaranteed international flights to the wider UK.

Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell made an impassioned speech, claiming villages that existed for 1,000 years would be “wiped off the face of the earth” to enable profit maximisation.

“There are human costs to this decision that this House needs to recognise and contemplate before they vote tonight to worry and blight my community once again on a programme that will never – pardon the pun – take off,” he told MPs, as per the BBC. 

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