{"id":145964,"date":"2018-06-25T02:12:45","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T02:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/heathrow-airport-mps-gear-up-for-crunch-third-runway-vote\/"},"modified":"2018-06-25T02:12:45","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T02:12:45","slug":"heathrow-airport-mps-gear-up-for-crunch-third-runway-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/heathrow-airport-mps-gear-up-for-crunch-third-runway-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Heathrow Airport: MPs gear up for crunch third runway vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Plane approaching Heathrow\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/17EE2\/production\/_102181089_ed570fd3-d991-4855-a2eb-02fbe53470a8.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  PA<figcaption>Image caption                                      The government says it is taking &quot;the biggest transport decision in a generation&quot;                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">MPs will decide whether to build a third runway at Heathrow airport later, in a vote likely to expose splits in both Labour and Tory ranks.<\/p>\n<p>The spotlight will be on Boris Johnson, who once vowed to lie down in front of bulldozers to stop Heathrow expansion.<\/p>\n<p>The foreign secretary is facing criticism for missing the vote, as he will be promoting UK trade abroad.<\/p>\n<p>Other Tory MPs will be ordered to back a third runway with Labour MPs given a free vote.<\/p>\n<p>With the government issuing a three-line whip to its MPs - and about 40 Labour MPs expected to vote with them - it is widely expected that the expansion plan will get Commons backing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Minister quits to oppose Heathrow plan<\/li>\n<li>Heathrow runway to &#039;change lives forever&#039;<\/li>\n<li>Grounded: UK airport expansion plans<\/li>\n<li>How do you build a runway over a motorway?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But the SNP, which had been expected to vote with the government, could decide to vote against expansion, sources have told the BBC, making the vote closer than previously expected.<\/p>\n<p>The Scottish government had argued that Heathrow&#039;s bid for a third runway would bring economic benefits to Scotland. <\/p>\n<p>But a senior SNP source said the party has been concerned in recent weeks about a lack of detail about how benefits would be delivered, and its 35 MPs could abstain or possibly vote against the plans. <\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Long-time third runway opponent Boris Johnson is under fire for being absent for the vote                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chelsea and Fulham Conservative MP Greg Hands quit as international trade minister last week to oppose the airport expansion.<\/p>\n<p>Labour&#039;s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency is near the south-west London airport, is expected to vote against expansion, despite Labour&#039;s trade union backers being in favour of it. <\/p>\n<p>Opponents of Heathrow expansion have attacked the scheme on environmental, noise and financial grounds, with some making the case for an alternative expansion scheme at Gatwick airport.<\/p>\n<p>Greater Manchester&#039;s Labour mayor Andy Burnham urged the prime minister to guarantee funding for transport projects in the north of England - including rail - saying the government&#039;s &quot;focus has drifted southwards once again&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>However, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling urged MPs of all parties to back &quot;the biggest transport decision in a generation&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &quot;Successive governments have wrestled with the issue of Heathrow expansion, but never before has Parliament held a vote on this project.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;At stake are thousands of new jobs and the country&#039;s ability to compete on an international stage and win new global trade.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>He made five pledges over the Heathrow expansion:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No cost to taxpayers<\/li>\n<li>An economic boost providing 100,000 jobs<\/li>\n<li>Guaranteed benefits for the whole country including internal flights, rail links and &quot;global opportunities&quot; for regional firms<\/li>\n<li>Built-in environmental protections<\/li>\n<li>The ability to fine Heathrow or ground aircraft if the airport breaks its own promises over the scheme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Boris Johnson, who is MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, has faced criticism for his absence from the vote, having a been a vocal opponent of a third runway as London mayor, when he was promoting a scheme for a new airport in the Thames estuary.<\/p>\n<p>Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has called on the foreign secretary to resign, while Labour&#039;s John McDonnell said his absence from the vote would damage public trust in politics.<\/p>\n<p>Senior Tory backbencher Sarah Wollaston said allowing Mr Johnson to travel abroad &quot;won&#039;t wash&quot; and called for him to resign &quot;on a point of principle&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>But the foreign secretary was defended by Prime Minister Theresa May, who said he was busy being &quot;the living embodiment of global Britain&quot; abroad.<\/p>\n<p>The government has so far declined to say where Mr Johnson will be when MPs vote on Monday evening, on security grounds.<\/p>\n<p>The Commons vote coincides with a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, but Sir Alan Duncan is set to be the UK&#039;s representative there. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright PAImage caption The government says it is taking &quot;the biggest transport decision in a generation&quot; MPs will decide whether to build a third runway at Heathrow airport later,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}