Push to build new Heathrow runway by 2029 – which would lead to cheaper holidays
Influential think tank Labour Together has published a new research paper showing how the government could expedite the construction of a third runway at Heathrow before the next elections.
Building Heathrow’s first runway took around a year. It is everything else that now takes time, the group said.
“This is not just about building a third runway. The Public Bill and special development order mechanisms we outline here could give ‘decision in principle’ consent to an array of infrastructure projects, with environmental offsets and consultation settled afterwards by the relevant ministers and departments,” it said.
“Parliament could confer this conditional, fast-track consent on entire classes of nationally significant infrastructure – electricity transmission, floating offshore wind, reservoirs, rail – dramatically speeding up the building process,” it said.
The think tank noted that the runway would have several knock-on benefits. New transport links mean more people can get to higher-paying jobs. More houses mean fewer people sleeping rough on the streets. More airport capacity means cheaper holidays, it said.
What issues need to be addressed?
The paper shows that this approach is feasible for a third runway if three constraints are tackled head-on:
- Regulatory drag and risk aversion: The Development Consent Order (DCO) process can take six years or more, with billions in investment turning on single veto points, making it rational for developers to spend enormous amounts of time mitigating every potential risk ex ante. A bespoke Heathrow Expansion Public Bill can compress the process for all consents into a single Parliamentary instrument and effectively eliminate the legal risk of judicial review, replacing it with a politically accountable process.
- Political time-tabling: Using the Public Bill route, programmed for seven months, could deliver Royal Assent by early 2026. If ministers are prepared to override Standing Orders as the government did with Scunthorpe steelworks, the Bill could be enacted even faster.
- Construction challenges with a long runway: Relocating the M25 makes a long runway nearly impossible within one Parliament. A short-haul runway (for domestic and European destinations) is feasible without moving the M25 and would free long-haul capacity on the main runways.
“The strongest constraints on building a third runway are the regulatory process and the construction challenge of moving junction 15 on the M25 without seriously disrupting London’s traffic flows. We believe both of these can be addressed,” the think tank said.
“Building a third runway by the next election would be a significant and tangible achievement for this government. It would demonstrate that Britain can build things at scale and efficiently, in a way that delivers for ordinary families.
“Perhaps most importantly, at a time when the global economy is increasingly closed, hostile and stagnant, this and other schemes like it will spark economic growth and confidence in Britain,” it said.
