Third Heathrow Runway 'Back On The Table'

Chancellor George Osborne is reportedly pushing for a U-turn over plans for a third runway at Heathrow - a move which threatens to inflame coalition tensions and overturn a key manifesto promise.

Mr Osborne has persuaded David Cameron to place expansion at the airport "back on the table", claiming it is essential to Britain's economic future, according to The Independent on Sunday.

Sources said Mr Osborne and Mr Cameron were convinced of the need to re-examine the issue because overseas leaders and business figures have warned trade will move elsewhere in the EU unless Heathrow is expanded.

The newspaper reported that Mr Osborne introduced Heathrow as an option for airport expansion at a Cabinet meeting earlier this month.

It claims the move was met with fury from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg , the Liberal Democrat leader, and Transport Secretary Justine Greening , who in opposition campaigned against a third runway.

But Mr Osborne refused to rule out Heathrow expansion because, allies say, it is key to Britain's "hub status" for flights between Asia and the America, the paper added.

While building would not take place until after the next election, a strategy review on aviation, coupled with a paper on "hub status", is due later this summer.

Officials have reportedly been asked to examine a series of other airport options.

The Observer said one is the use of RAF Northolt in Ruislip, Middlesex, for business flights, to ease pressure on Heathrow, just 13 miles away.

"Developing Northolt - and perhaps connecting it to Heathrow with a high-speed rail link - would allow the Government to avoid accusations of a U-turn as the third runway would then be some distance from the main airport," the newspaper said.

In a speech last week, Mr Cameron said he was "not blind to the need to increase airport capacity, particularly in the South East".