Net Zero Sec Miliband says he will not resign if govt backs Heathrow third runway - after years of opposition

Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband has said helium volition not resign if the authorities backs a 3rd runway astatine Heathrow pursuing years of absorption by him.

In 2009, Mr Miliband threatened to resign from Gordon Brown's furniture arsenic vigor and clime alteration caput implicit plans for a caller runway and successful 2018 helium said an enlargement was "very likely" to marque aerial contamination worse.

But helium has present said the authorities tin conscionable some its maturation and nett zero missions together.

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Asked if helium volition see resigning if the authorities approves a 3rd runway, helium said: "Don't beryllium ridiculous, no."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to usage a code adjacent week to enactment the expansion, arsenic good arsenic astatine Gatwick and Luton.

Mr Miliband said the government's presumption is for immoderate aviation enlargement to instrumentality spot wrong the UK's c budgets, which are portion of plans to conscionable the country's 2050 people of reducing emissions by 100% compared with 1990 levels.

Independent advisers connected the government's Climate Change Committee (CC) person called for nary nett airdrome enlargement without a due nationalist program to curb emissions from the aviation assemblage and negociate rider capacity.

Mr Miliband added: "What the Climate Change Committee says is that we've got to marque definite immoderate decisions we marque connected aviation including enlargement instrumentality spot wrong our c budgets.

"And they are 100% close astir that and that's perfectly the presumption of the government.

"We judge that we tin conscionable our maturation ngo - our fig 1 precedence - and support wrong c budgets and so that our cleanable vigor ngo is important and a cardinal portion of gathering our maturation mission.

"Far from them being successful contradiction, they are perfectly complimentary."

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He refused to accidental whether the state could inactive scope nett zero if Heathrow gets a 3rd runway.

"I'm not getting into speculation astir circumstantial issues similar that.

"What I'm saying is that aviation is portion of our economical maturation and it has to instrumentality spot wrong our c budgets, and that is accepted close crossed authorities due to the fact that we person legally binding c budgets."

Ms Reeves dropped a dense hint connected Thursday astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland, that she intends to disregard clime concerns and backmost Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton expansions arsenic she said "growth is the fig 1 ngo of this government".

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan stood his crushed aft winning a 3rd word past twelvemonth promising to reason London airdrome expansions.

Mr Khan has this greeting reiterated his absorption to the plans, telling the London Assembly the aviation assemblage is important for maturation "but we look a clime situation and a clime emergency".

"I'm rather clear, my views connected the enlargement of Heathrow by a caller runway haven't changed," helium said.

He added that if speculation astir a caller runway abiding by c targets, and concerns astir sound and aerial contamination became a world "we'll of people see the merits of that case".

His spokesperson told Sky News: "The politician has a long-standing absorption to airdrome enlargement astir London - linked to the antagonistic interaction connected aerial quality, noise, and London's quality to scope nett zero by 2030."