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Boris Johnson: New runway at Heathrow won't happen Boris Johnson: New runway at Heathrow won't happen
(about 1 hour later)
Mayor of London Boris Johnson says that a new runway at Heathrow would have "catastrophic" impacts and predicted that "it's not going to happen". Mayor of London Boris Johnson says that a new runway at Heathrow is "not going to happen" despite the Airports Commission's recommendation.
The Airports Commission backs a third runway, saying it will add £147bn to the economy and 70,000 jobs by 2050. The commission said it would add £147bn to the economy and 70,000 jobs by 2050.
Downing Street officials say they want to digest the report properly, without making "a snap judgement". Mr Johnson and likely 2016 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith are long-term opponents of Heathrow expansion, which was ruled out by David Cameron in 2009.
Mr Johnson is a long-term opponent of Heathrow expansion and has vowed to lie down in front of bulldozers. Downing Street said it would digest the report and make no "snap judgement".
He said that the "discomfort being endured" by Londoners on the hottest day of the year "would be nothing compared to the noise pollution that will be visited on hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people and the vehicular pollution as a result of a catastrophic decision to increase runway capacity in the west of the city. That will not happen." Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about his pledge to lie in front of bulldozers if Heathrow expansion was approved, Mr Johnson said: "As it happens, I don't think my services as a bulldozer blocker will be required for decades, if ever."
'Catastrophic'
He said a third runway would be a "precursor" for a fourth runway in the future, saying the commission's call for a law to rule a fourth one out was a "fiction".
"This is the sort of thing you could have got away with in China in the 1950s," he said, adding that the impact in terms of the environment and noise would be "so huge" that it was "not deliverable".
Mr Johnson repeated his view that an airport in the Thames estuary was the best solution.
He told BBC News the "discomfort being endured" by Londoners on the hottest day of the year "would be nothing compared to the noise pollution that will be visited on hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people and the vehicular pollution as a result of a catastrophic decision to increase runway capacity in the west of the city. That will not happen."
Mr Goldsmith, the MP for Richmond Park, said he stood by his pledge to resign and trigger a by-election if Heathrow expansion was backed by the Conservative Party, but said he did not think this would happen.
"A decision in favour of Heathrow expansion is really just a decision in favour of delay and fudge," he added.
Mr Cameron said in 2009 the Conservatives' pledge on Heathrow was made with "no ifs, no buts".
But John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow's chief executive, said the latest proposals were "an entirely different plan to the one the prime minister rejected".
"We have changed" he said, adding: "We have u-turned so that the prime minister does not need to."
Cabinet ministers
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said Conservative MPs who favoured Heathrow had demanded cabinet ministers opposed to a third runway for constituency reasons be barred from any say in the final decision.
There are around five cabinet ministers who would be effected by a third runway, including International Development Secretary Justine Greening, Home Secretary Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers.
Conservative MPs who live close to Gatwick have written to the Cabinet secretary urging him to rule those cabinet ministers with a constituency interest should not be allowed a vote on the third runway.
Labour London mayoral hopeful David Lammy said the backing for Heathrow was "good news for our city", adding: "We urgently need new runway capacity."
Sir Howard Davies's report said that the new runway should come with severe restrictions to reduce the environmental and noise effects.Sir Howard Davies's report said that the new runway should come with severe restrictions to reduce the environmental and noise effects.
Night flights should be banned and the government should make a Parliamentary pledge not to build a fourth runway.Night flights should be banned and the government should make a Parliamentary pledge not to build a fourth runway.
"Heathrow offers the kind of long-haul connectivity - flights to emerging markets which are very important to the future of the British economy - and expanding it would allow Heathrow to offer more of those flights," Sir Howard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme."Heathrow offers the kind of long-haul connectivity - flights to emerging markets which are very important to the future of the British economy - and expanding it would allow Heathrow to offer more of those flights," Sir Howard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He also told the programme that the airport would become "a better neighbour".
His report also recommends an aviation noise levy to fund insulation for homes and schools and says a legal commitment should be made on air quality.
Sir Howard said that a second runway at Gatwick was a "credible" option but was less able to provide connections to long-haul destinations and would create lower levels of economic growth.
Heathrow welcomed the Commission's decision saying it would now work with government to "deliver expansion for all of Britain".
But Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said the airport was "still very much in the race".But Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said the airport was "still very much in the race".
"The Commission's report makes clear that expansion at Gatwick is deliverable," he added."The Commission's report makes clear that expansion at Gatwick is deliverable," he added.
A third option for extending the present runways at Heathrow was rejected.A third option for extending the present runways at Heathrow was rejected.
The government has said that it will give its official response to the Commission in the autumn and it is estimated that, if given the go-ahead, any new runway would take more than a decade to build.The government has said that it will give its official response to the Commission in the autumn and it is estimated that, if given the go-ahead, any new runway would take more than a decade to build.