Singapore Airlines landing into Heathrow Airport (Image: Getty)

       Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet is split over whether to allow a third runway at Heathrow AIrport, reports have suggested.

       Downing Street and the Department for Transport are said to be “open-minded” about a third runway.

       But one political aide said the cabinet was divided.

       The person said: “It’s no secret that there isn’t universal backing for the third runway, it’s just not a priority right now.

       “[Energy secretary] Ed [Miliband] is the most obvious example of someone who is anti, but there are others who are uncomfortable about expanding Britain’s biggest airport.”

       Heathrow chiefs, which handle more than 80 million passengers a year, are finishing their first expansion plan since the pandemic.

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       It will not include a third runway at this stage, the Financial Times has reported.

       Financing, a change in ownership and uncertainty over whether the government will approve the project are also factors.

       Of the four tests, which are, delivering growth across the country, meeting climate obligations and complying with air pollution and noise considerations, a senior government figure said: “They are pretty tough tests, they are stringent, but it’s up to the company [Heathrow] to explain whether they can be met.”

       Labour’s election manifesto did not mention Heathrow or any airport expansion. In the last House of Commons vote on a third runway at Heathrow in 2018, seven members of the current cabinet voted against it, including Starmer.

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       A third runway was first proposed by the last Labour government in 2003 on economic grounds but Conservative administrations tried and failed to progress the scheme.

       Several prominent Labour politicians, including Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan, and environmental campaign groups have strongly opposed it.

       They argue that a huge expansion in flying is incompatible with the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero carbon emissions.