GEORGE Osborne has urged Theresa May and her government to back the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
The former chancellor said the west London hub needed increased capacity so that Britain could be "outward-looking, free-trading and global".
His intervention came as reports emerged that ministers could back expansion at both Heathrow and Gatwick. Expectations are growing that the Prime Minister will finally announce the UK Government’s decision next week.
The Scottish Government has already come out in favour of a third runway at Heathrow, saying there would be significant strategic and economic benefits for Scotland, not least the creation of 16,000 new jobs.
Mr Osborne claimed that although building a second runway at the Gatwick could be considered, it should not happen at the same time as Heathrow expansion.
In a series of Twitter messages, the Tory MP for Tatton in Cheshire said: "Time for a decision on airports and go for Heathrow. Economic case overwhelming. Connects Northern Powerhouse. Ensures Britain is open to world.
"If we want Britain to be outward-looking, free-trading and global, we must expand the great airport that connects us to that world and that trade.
"We can consider Gatwick expansion. But not at the expense of Heathrow and not in parallel or else, in practice, nothing will get built," he added.
In 2009, David Cameron, the former premier, famously said “no ifs no buts” no third runway at Heathrow but last year the Davies Commission recommended the west London hub should be expanded.
John Sauven, Greenpeace UK’s executive director, described expansion at both Heathrow and Gatwick as "the worst of both worlds".
He said: "We can only hope these rumours are not true. An increase in air traffic on this scale will make climate change and air pollution targets virtually impossible to meet."
Sarah Clayton, co-ordinator at AirportWatch, an umbrella group of environmental organisations and community groups, said: "It's the most crazy time for the Government to be building a runway; they've got Brexit, no idea what's happening with the pound, with the economy. The whole thing is a madness."
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