Rachel Reeves suggests she supports more Heathrow expansion to help boost economy
22 January 2025, 08:39
Rachel Reeves has strongly suggested she'll back more Heathrow expansion in a bid to grow the economy.
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The Chancellor said this morning that "the answer can't always be no" and the government's top priority means that it has to "trump other things".
It comes after a huge row broke out within Labour after reports the Chancellor will throw her weight behind calls for more runways at London's airports in a major speech next week on growth.
Ms Reeves was speaking to Bloomberg at the Davos forum in Switzerland this morning, and was asked about the potential splits in the party over the move.
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She said of opposition to airport expansion: "This is a problem of the last government, there was always someone who said, we want to grow the economy, but we don't like that investment, we don't like that wind farm, we don't like that airport, the answer can't always be no...
"That's been a problem in Britain for a long time.
"When there's a choice between something that would grow the economy and something else, that always won.
"When we say that growth is the number one mission of our government... We mean it.
"That means it trumps other things.
"We're making pro-growth decisions in the national interest."
But London's Mayor Sadiq Khan and Ed Miliband are said to be opposed to the move.
The Chancellor's due to give a major speech on how she will boost growth next week - following market instability and high government borrowing rates earlier this month.
Treasury sources have told LBC there could be tighter spending cuts on the cards if she fails to reach her fiscal rules - if debt peaks too high.
Speaking to business bosses at the World Economic Forum summit, she also defended her budget, saying that she had now "wiped the slate clean" with tax rises for businesses last year.
And she slapped down calls to rejoin the EU's customs union, saying "we've moved on".
But the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds suggested Britain wanted to have an "ambitious conversation" about the regulation of goods.
Reeves also revealed that ministers want to increase higher skilled migration with more visas for people working in AI and life sciences - despite the PM saying he wanted to push down sky-high migration.
She told the forum that ministers are bringing forward a fresh white paper with moves to increase some visas.
She said: "This year we will be publishing an immigration white paper.
"Although we know we need to bring immigration down, particularly illegal, into the UK, we are going to look again at routes for the highest skilled people, visas for people in areas like AI and life sciences.
"Britain is open for businesses, for talent. We want to bring in global talent into Britain."
