Rachel Reeves is facing fierce opposition within Labour over her plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

The Chancellor's plans to build a third runway at Heathrow could turn great swathes of the English countryside into "noise sewers", campaigners claim.

Rachel Reeves has confirmed the Government will support building a controversial third runway at Heathrow and other airport expansion plans despite fierce opposition from some in her own party. In a speech in Oxfordshire on Wednesday,

Rachel Reeves has revealed she is now in favour of expanding Leeds Bradford Airport, after previously opposing plans for a new terminal.

Rachel Reeves has rejected criticism of the Government’s support to expand Heathrow Airport after she set out plans to remove barriers to growth in the hope of kickstarting the UK’s stuttering economy.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has backed a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport as part of a fresh plan to get the UK's sluggish economy growing. She said Heathrow expansion, which has been delayed for decades over environmental concerns, would "make Britain the world's best connected place to do business".

The Heathrow expansion can be achieved in 10 years, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. Speaking on LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Ms Reeves said the Cabinet was united on plans for a third runway, despite facing criticism from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Plans to expand London's other airports are already further along than Heathrow's and have in the past been viewed as an alternative to a third Heathrow runway. Work is set to start this year to expand capacity at Stansted's terminal. The government is due to make a decision on Gatwick airport by 27 February.

Ed Miliband has promised Britain will slash its climate emissions by more than 60pc by 2035 in a move that risks direct conflict with Rachel Reeves’s airport expansion plans.

Labour’s airport plan admits economic growth trumps carbon piety.

Labour’s ambitions for a more pro-growth, pro-business agenda mark a positive shift, at least in tone. But actual, visible, tangible growth depends on execution. This in turn depends on private sector money, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, and cutting the Brexit red-tape that continues to hamper trade with the EU.