Rachel Reeves told Labour ‘blockers’ not to stop her from getting ‘stuff built’ today as she desperately tries to get the economy going.
In what will be seen as a warning to environmentalist Cabinet colleagues like Ed Miliband the Chancellor signalled they would have to support the expansion of the UK’s largest airport or quit.
Ms Reeves today lashed out at her own wider party, warning she will ‘not tolerate blocking for blocking’s sake’ from MPs or anyone else.
She is planning to water down environmental rules to avoid chokes on development and freeze the number of organisations which developers must consult by law.
The Chancellor is expected to back a new third runway at Heathrow in a speech on Wednesday. The expansion has previously been opposed by ministers including Mr Miliband, as well as London mayor Sadiq Khan.
This morning Ms Reeves told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Philips: ‘We’ll make announcements about policies when we’re ready to do so, with full collective ministerial responsibility.’
This would prevent ministers opposed to the airport expansion from criticising it publicly, if they want to keep their jobs.
She later told the BBC a third runway would be more environmentally friendly because it would allow planes to land more quickly without circling, using less fuel.
Mr Miliband was forced to deny he was thinking about quitting last week when the PM and Ms Reeves hinted they backed Heathrow’s growth.
In what will be seen as a warning to environmentalist Cabinet colleagues like Ed Miliband the Chancellor signalled they would have to support the expansion of the UK’s largest airport or quit.
The Chancellor is expected to back a new third runway at Heathrow in a speech on Wednesday.
The expansion has previously been opposed by ministers including Mr Miliband, as well as London mayor Sadiq Khan.
‘Let me be clear, already this Government has signed off housing developments, a data centre infrastructure to support the AI and tech industry, we’ve supported onshore wind developments. We have supported a number of developments to get our country growing again,’ Ms Reeves said.
‘Decisions that were on the desks of previous ministers, but those decisions were either blocked or stalled, and as a result we haven’t had the economic growth and the investment that our country deserves to create those good jobs.’
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government wants the default answer to be ‘yes’ for development plans in key areas, such as ‘high potential locations’ near commuter transport hubs.
It is working with Greater Manchester to release land around transport hubs for development, such as around Castleton Station in Rochdale.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she would support plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
She told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: ‘I’ve had to vote on this before and I voted in support of the third runway.
‘What I want to do is make sure it’s done in the right way.
‘I think we need to make sure that we deliver infrastructure and if Heathrow Airport thinks that a third runway is deliverable within the criteria that’s set, then I think that we should be honest and do the right thing.’
In a message to parliamentarians ahead of the speech she is expected to deliver next week, Ms Reeves told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: ‘This Government was elected on a mandate for change and we will not tolerate blockers who put their own interests above those of the country.
‘Of course, there is room for robust debate and challenge and it’s right that developers are required to consult local communities and expert bodies when making planning decisions.
‘But we won’t tolerate blocking for blocking’s sake, be that from small pressure groups who have had an oversized say on the future of our economy or in Parliament.’
Ms Reeves said she was also backing a regeneration project around the Old Trafford football stadium in Manchester.
She is expected to use her speech on growth next week to support the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport, in west London, and to endorse expansion at Gatwick and Luton.
Environmental Impact Assessments have ‘strayed from their original purpose of supporting decision making and have become voluminous and costly documents that too often support legal challenges rather than the environment’, the Treasury said.
It said Environmental Outcome Reports ‘will be simpler and much clearer, which will support growth by saving developers’ time and money, whilst still protecting the environment.’
The statutory consultee system ‘often means too many organisations consulted on too wide a range of issues, clogging up much-needed development’, it said.
A moratorium on any new statutory consultees has been declared while the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner review the existing arrangements ‘to make sure they meet this Government’s ambitions for growth’.
The review will take place in the coming weeks.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which aims to remove barriers which prevent construction, and to get projects approved faster, will be introduced to Parliament in spring, Ms Reeves confirmed.
A working paper with further detail on the Bill is being published on Sunday.