Reacting to the news that the final vote in the House of Commons on building a third runway at Heathrow airport has been postponed again until 2018, John McDonnell said:

“Instead of kicking the decision into the long grass as they have done for the last 7 years, the government should show some leadership and scrap the plans altogether.

“The result of the General Election means a third runway at Heathrow looks increasingly unlikely to ever be built.

“London has a very serious air pollution problem and building a third runway at Heathrow is incompatible with meeting our air pollution targets.

“My constituents face losing their homes, jobs and livelihoods. We won’t stop campaigning against this runway until the plans are scrapped once and for all.”