Heathrow expansion called into doubt

London: David Cameron's decision to resign as Prime Minister in the wake of the UK voters decision to leave the EU has brought the expansion of Heathrow airport into doubt.

Long term supporter of expansion of the UK’s busiest airport, the Prime Minister announced that he would step down in October, once a new leader of the Conservative party has been chosen.

The PM was expected to sign off on the Heathrow expansion once he had secured a remain vote for EU membership, but now with just a few months left of his Premiership, he may leave any controversial decisions to his successor.

The leading candidates to replace Cameron have been noisy in expressing their criticism for expansion of the airport.

Boris Johnson, the former favourite to the be the next Prime Minister and former Mayjor of  London, has in the past vocally supported purposed plans to build a new runway, in the heart of the capital, on the Thames estuary and not to expand the number of runways at Heathrow.

The plans to expand the airport were put forward by an independent committee, recommending that the expansion could be worth almost 150 billion pounds and add 70,000 jobs to the economy by 2060.

The plans for growth have always had their staunch opponents with newly elected Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan amongst them.

With the British political scene in turmoil, many expect the plans for enlargement of the airport to be shelved, if not trashed entirely.

One senior minister said, when speaking with the London Evening Standard, “the third runway looks dead in the water.”

Despite the uncertainty, there are still those that support the plans and are keen for Government's position on project Heathrow to be clarified.

Secretary for transport, Patrick Mcloughlin during parliamentary questioning, said, “Being realistic, I cannot foresee an announcement until at least October,” he said. “[However], the government is fully committed to delivering this important infrastructure project.”

Heathrow's Chief executive John Holland-Kaye believes it is vital that the expansion plans move forward, “Now more than ever, the people across Britain are counting on the Government to take bold decisions that show we are an outward looking trading nation.”