Squirming
Ed Miliband has refused to say whether he is personally in favour of the expansion of Heathrow airport.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Labour government would support the airport plans for a third runway as he desperately tries to boost her economic growth agenda.
As Labour leader in 2010, Mr Miliband reversed his party’s support for Heathrow expansion over concerns about the environmental impact of it.
Pushed on whether he has changed his mind, the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “I am part of the government and I abide by collective responsibility.”
“I was part of the decision-making process and the decision is as Rachel Reeves set it out,” he said, adding he was “not obfuscating” when pressed on his previous stance and the fact he did not attend the chancellor’s announcement on Heathrow.
Collective responsibility is the rule that the Cabinet must act as one on government decisions.
Mr Miliband later told the Today programme a final decision on Heathrow expansion is “some years off”, adding the proposal will need to meet carbon budgets and local environmental standards to be approved.
“I do support what the government is doing, which is that we’ve asked Heathrow to come forward with their plans,” he told Sky News.
“But it’s really important to say these have got to meet strict carbon budgets and local environmental standards and then an assessment will be made about whether a third runway can do that… We have carbon budgets in which any of those plans have to sit.”
He also refused to state his personal position on the Rosebank oil field, another project he has previously opposed for environmental reasons.
Mr Miliband argued that he has “different responsibilities” now as a government minister than he did in opposition, when he described the development as “a colossal waste of taxpayer money” and “economic vandalism”.
He added: “What I’m about is making a massive difference now – this is the fight of our time”.
Mr Miliband said he “utterly reject[s]” that there is a choice between economic growth and net zero, arguing that clean energy provides “the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century” for jobs and the planet.
