Building a third Heathrow runway remains 'hypothetical' Angela Rayner says after deadline extended
The Housing Secretary said that nobody has applied to build the runway despite the Starmer government approving construction
Angela Rayner told LBC that the process for building a third runway at Heathrow remains “hypothetical” because nobody has submitted an application to create it.
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Bosses at the airport, the largest and busiest in the UK, have told the government that sticking to the current 2035 deadline is not possible.
Speaking with Sunday with Lewis Goodall from the Labour Party Conference, the Housing Secretary said that although the proposal of a third runway has been approved, Londoners would have to be consulted again once an application is submitted.
Ms Rayner’s statements come after Andy Burnham refused to say whether he backs plans to build a third runway.
When asked about why the Prime Minister is not outwardly backing a "key piece of our national infrastructure," she said: "As my understanding is, there is no applications in at the moment, so we're having a very hypothetical conversation here."
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Rayner added: "There is a process of consultation as part of [a future application] which looks at a number of different factors, including environmental.
"Local MPs will be consulted on, local people will be consulted on, and it will be looked at in the round.
"[The previous government] already expanded air capacity, the runway capacity in London, and we will take it forward through those processes.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s government, which included Rayner until September, 2025, gave its support to the third runway project at Heathrow.
Former chancellor Rachel Reeves said the construction of a third runway would create 100,000 jobs.
The Prime Minister previously diverted questions about his views, saying he would wait to hear the outcome of a consultation process on the matter saying: “Principally, it’s a matter for London and Londoners.”
He added: "It's not right for me to just jump straight in on the back of the consultation."
The 2015 deadline for the project has already been pushed back by four years, and airport bosses have said the initial government timeline is not possible.
Heathrow has said it is currently aiming to get planning permission by 2029, with the goal to have a third runway in operation by 2039.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said earlier this week that an expanded Heathrow could be "the country’s front door" to tourists from China and India, and that climate concerns around increased flights could be "holistically" offset elsewhere in the economy.