The Supreme Court will give the green light to Heathrow Airport to build its third runway, a lawyer in the case has said. This would overturn the Court of Judgement’s ruling that Heathrow expansion was unlawful on Climate Change grounds.
Tim Crosland of Plan B broke the Court embargo to announce the news in an act of "civil disobedience".
In his statement Crosland said:
“I have been a lawyer for 25 years and a legal adviser to government agencies. I was a Deputy Director at the Serious Organised Crime Agency. I have deep respect for the rule of law and the vital role of the judicial system in holding power to account. That is why it is a duty to protest a decision that so gravely betrays that purpose.
“I take this act of protest for the sake of my two children and in memory of all those who have lost their lives on the frontline of the climate crisis, in the UK and around the world”.
The decision overturns February’s Court of Judgment ruling which said that Heathrow expansion was unlawful. The Court had rejected expansion on the grounds that Chris Grayling, the then Secretary of State for Transport, had not assessed the project against the 1.5˚C temperature goal in the Paris Agreement. If he had done, he could not have approved it.
The supreme court ruling will officially be announced tomorrow morning (Wednesday 16th December) from around 9.45am. People can watch the announcement live via the Supreme Court website.
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