Court of Appeal rules Heathrow’s third runway illegal

Published by Alice Jaspars on February 27th 2020, 11:11am

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, a group of London councils and environmental charities, have successfully won their case in a Court of Appeal preventing the Heathrow expansion.

Khan tweeted: “We won! Today we blocked the Tory government plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

“Today’s judgment is a major victory for all Londoners who are passionate about tackling the climate emergency and cleaning up our air."

The London Mayor, alongside a group of councils and environment charities, appealed the High Court decision made last May.

The proposal to expand the airport was pushed through in a Commons vote in June 2019, with a majority of 296 voting in favour.

Transport secretary, Chris Grayling, was criticised for not giving sufficient consideration to climate change issues or environmental legislation.

According to Lords Justice Singh, Lindblom and Haddon-Cave, the government did not consider their commitment to the Paris Agreement when supporting the airport expansion in their National Policy Statement.

The UK ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016, which commits all signatories to taking measures to preventing global warming from increasing by two degrees Celsius.

Lord Justice Lindbolm said that "the Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the Secretary of State in the preparation of the NPS and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not."

Boris Johnson previously voiced his opposition to the Heathrow expansion, vowing to "lie down ... in front of those bulldozers" to prevent the runway from being built.

In an interview yesterday, the CEO of Heathrow airport, John Holland-Kaye, asked the prime minister to speed up plans to build the runway.

Peter Walker, political correspondent for the Guardian, has stated that the government will not appeal the court ruling at present.

Share this article


Leaders of Great Britain

About Leaders of Great Britain

Leaders of Great Britain hosts a series of engaging events featuring prominent figures from the worlds of politics, sports, business, and entertainment. Our goal is for every attendee to leave these gatherings with profound leadership insights that transcend boundaries. Learn More.


Related Features


Authored By

Alice Jaspars
Culture Editor
February 27th 2020, 11:11am

Follow Us

Follow @LeadersGBNI on Twitter for more live updates

Share this article


Popular Features

FEATURES | Published October 7th 2024, 4:04 pm

Margaret Ollivier: Ensuring Respect and Inclusivity at Expect Ltd

FEATURES | Published September 16th 2024, 11:11 am

Andrew Martin: Steering the Course of Planning and Development

FEATURES | Published July 26th 2024, 7:07 am

Paul Bowley: Transforming Lives with Abbeycare Group

© Copyright 2024, Leaders of Great Britain.