Ministers could have planes flying from a third runway at Heathrow before the next election if they fast tracked legislation through Parliament and abandoned plans to move the M25, a major report has said.
The Treasury is understood to be looking at proposals drawn up by think tanks Labour Together and the Centre for British Progress that they claim would provide the Government with a “huge opportunity” for growth.
The report, Getting Britain Off the Ground, spells out how ministers could bypass planning red tape to give “decision in principle” consent to a range of major infrastructure projects, such as reservoirs, energy projects and new rail links as well as new airport runways.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Government’s backing for a third runway at Heathrow, claiming it would boost the wider economy and provide much-needed growth.
According to the paper, the first runway at Heathrow took just one year to build, but a third runway faces six years just to secure planning permission before spades can hit the ground.
Included in the report, is the recommendation that ministers should cut through red tape by introducing a “single, bespoke Public Bill for Heathrow”, which would give far greater control of the process to Parliament and “effectively eliminate the legal risk of judicial review”.
The second recommendation is that the legislation should be fast-tracked over seven months, receiving Royal Assent by early 2026, adding that if ministers were willing to override so-called Standing Orders, as occurred when the Government moved to save the Scunthorpe steelworks, the bill could be passed even faster.
The third recommendation is to scrap plans for a long-haul runway in favour of one that delivers short-haul flights to domestic and European destinations in a move that would free up more long haul space on the existing runways, and negate the need to relocate vast sections of the M25.
Writing the foreword to the report, Labour MP Dan Tomlinson, who acts as one of the Government’s “growth mission champions”, said the measures show how the “state could act differently”.
“You don’t have to agree with every detail to see the broader point: we must build more, and we must do it faster. And crucially, we can. Not recklessly. Not carelessly. But with urgency, confidence, and purpose.”
He added: “There is a moral case for building. A fairer economy, with better jobs and more secure lives, depends on it. And in the face of growing global challenges, from energy security to climate change, we cannot afford to keep saying ‘no’ by default. The cost of inaction is already being paid.”
New runway could reduce airfares by £160
The study claims that delivering a new, short-haul runway could reduce airfares by £160 for an average family of four flying on holiday, while delivering between £15.8bn and £17.2bn in net benefits for the wider economy.
It would also show the world that “Britain can build at pace and at scale”.
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David Lawrence, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress, who helped pen the study, said: “Heathrow expansion is a huge opportunity for this Government to succeed where others have failed. Britain has lost its ability to build things: this is our chance to reverse decades of decline.”
Morgan Wild, the Chief Policy Adviser at Labour Together, and co-author of the report, added: “Getting Britain building again is at the heart of this government’s agenda. The sooner we build new train lines, the more people will be able to get better-paying jobs. The greater our airport capacity, the cheaper people’s holidays will be. The faster we can build wind farms, the quicker energy bills will fall. Building is the only real answer to the country’s top priority: the cost of living.
“Instead of Britain’s builders spending years satisfying every objection in advance, this approach would give them permission in principle and make ministers accountable for ensuring projects satisfy environmental thresholds and the other genuine problems that major infrastructure can cause.”
The Treasury was approached for comment.
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