Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lucy Rigby and Munira Wilson

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

16. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Heathrow airport’s expansion on economic growth in regions outside London.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Lucy Rigby)]

We have been clear that Heathrow expansion needs to benefit everyone, not just London. The Department for Transport has shown that expansion would deliver UK-wide support for trade, with 40% of the estimated GDP benefits from expansion being outside London and the south-east.

[Munira Wilson]

When the Chancellor announced her support for Heathrow expansion last year, she claimed that it would deliver 0.43% GDP growth. The Heathrow expansion national policy statement snuck out last week predicts a 90% reduction in that figure to just 0.05% growth; what little growth there might be will largely be sucked out of other parts of the country, such as Birmingham and Manchester. Will she now finally admit that Heathrow expansion is not the grand growth plan she thought it was, and that it will hurt areas outside London the most?