Government won't stump up cash for Heathrow, says minister

摘要

The government will not be drawing on any public cash to fund the £14bn expansion of Heathrow airport, a transport minister has reiterated. Replying to a written question from anti-expansion MP Zac Goldsmith, newly appointed transport minister Michael Ellis said the government was certain it would not be required to chip in funding to carry out the project. West London Tory MP Goldsmith, who quit as an MP in 2016 over the government's support for the expansion but re-entered parliament the following year and whose Richmond Park constituency he has previously said "will bear the brunt of plane noise from Heathrow" asked transport secretary Chris Grayling whether public money will be used to bankroll the job. But Ellis said: 'The government is clear that the Northwest Runway scheme [the third runway] at Heathrow will be financed in its entirety by the private sector. The government and its independent expert advisers concluded that, so far as can be assessed at this early stage of the process, Heathrow Airport Ltd is able to privately finance expansion without government support."