Conservatives back Heathrow expansion as Burnham keeps ‘open mind’

Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith is expected to use his speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham to pledge sweeping reforms aimed at speeding up major infrastructure projects.

Declaring the Tories are "all in" for growth, Mr Griffith will vow to legislate to remove barriers that he says have delayed schemes such as Heathrow expansion for too long.

His intervention comes after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Labour's conference in Liverpool last week that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had not ruled out backing a third runway.

Mr Griffith will also tell his party’s backers: “Countries on the rise have the best infrastructure and connectivity to the world, but our national hub airport is being held back.

“The next Conservative government will do whatever it takes to end the delays and boost capacity by backing the third runway.”

Mr Burnham said Heathrow Airport’s future was “a matter for London and Londoners” when he appeared on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme last week.

“I think it’s right that we hear what people have said through the consultation and then consider the way forward from there,” he said.

At a Politico fringe event in Liverpool, Ms Alexander said: “I think Andy’s got an open mind.”

She said the Prime Minister wanted to “listen to the views of communities”, including “the communities most affected in London” and businesses.

She continued: “He’ll be listening to the views of other airports.”

Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow Airport, said: “We welcome the growing ‘can do’ consensus behind Heathrow expansion and the Conservative leadership’s recognition of the role we can play in driving growth across the UK.

“Heathrow and our investors stand ready to work with politicians from across the spectrum to finally get the third runway built.”

But Chancellor John Healey has insisted the economic case for expansion “stacks up”, arguing that a third runway is vital to driving national economic growth.