MPs will vote today on whether to approve a third runway at Heathrow.
It is widely expected the plan will get Commons backing, although a handful of Conservative MPs are expected to rebel against their party’s official stance and vote ‘no’.
About 40 Labour MPs are expected to vote for the third runway. Officially, Labour is opposed to expansion, but members have been given a free vote on the issue.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has called the vote ‘the biggest transport decision in a generation’.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, who has been an outspoken opponent of expansion, will miss the vote. It’s believed he is abroad on Government business, but he has declined to say where he will be, citing ‘security grounds’.
He’s been widely criticised by MPs and commentators for his absence.
MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said Boris should ‘put his money where his mouth is’ while Greg Hands, who resigned as international trade minister in protest at the third runway, tweeted that he wouldn’t want to be abroad to miss yesterday’s World Cup match between England and Panama or today’s vote on Heathrow.
