Rachel Reeves today voiced her opposition to the Cabinet's rebellion against Heathrow expansion, as she stressed growing the economy is her top priority.
The chancellor stressed that major projects such as the third runway will no longer be blocked as she tried to drum up investment at the elite meeting in Davos.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the government is proposing to strip environmental watchdogs of the powers to prevent property and infrastructure projects.
Although Ms Reeves has yet to formally confirm whether permission will be granted to expand Heathrow Airport, she is expected to do so in a speech next week.
However, that could spark a huge row in the government, with Net Zero secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan among the plan's prominent critics.
Eight of those in the Cabinet – including Keir Starmer, Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Mr Miliband – have previously opposed Heathrow expansion.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves stressed that major projects such as the third runway will no longer be blocked as she tried to drum up investment at the elite meeting in Davos
An artist's impression of what the expanded Heathrow Airport site could look like
Net Zero secretary Ed Miliband and London mayor Sadiq Khan are among prominent critics of the plan
Speaking at a Bloomberg event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ms Reeves said: 'This was the problem with the previous administration, that there was always someone saying, 'Oh yes, of course we want to grow the economy, but we are not. “We don't like that investment, we don't like that wind farm, we don't like those pylons, we don't like that airport, we don't want those homes near us.”
'But the answer can't always be 'no', and that has been the problem in Britain for a long time: if there was a choice between something that would grow the economy and something else, everything else always won.
“Of course there are other things that matter, but when we say growth is the most important mission of this administration, we mean it, and that means it trumps other things.
“And so we make pro-growth decisions in the national interest.”
Kenton Jarvis, CEO of EasyJet, welcomed suggestions that the long-discussed project will move forward.
He told reporters: “We welcome the government's decisive action to grow the economy.
'We have always said that aviation, industry, makes economic growth possible.
'When it comes to Heathrow, I have always thought that Heathrow would fit into our network of primary airports with large catchment areas.
'It would be a unique opportunity to operate from Heathrow on a large scale – as there are clearly a limited number of slots at the moment – ​​and give us the opportunity to offer lower fares to UK consumers who currently only have the choice at Heathrow from national airlines.
'It fits into our network, we are present at all other major European airports such as Schiphol, Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Geneva, etc.'
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is threatening a new legal challenge to the airport expansion
