Theresa May clears criticism of Heathrow expansion from personal website ahead of runway announcement
Seven-year-old posts in which the Prime Minister condemned the then-Labour government over plans for a third runway have been deleted from her website
THERESA May purged her personal website of blogposts slamming Heathrow expansion ahead of an expected green light for a new runway.
Until 2009 the PMs personal “tmay.co.uk” website had a whole subsection devoted to fighting a new runway at Heathrow — but now it has disappeared.
In a now deleted post, the Maidenhead MP said a government that built a new runway could never be taken “seriously on the environment again”.
She claimed that it would lead to “increased noise and more pollution for thousands of people.”
She also said people would be “devastated by the government’s decision” and accused Labour of “dithering” on the issue.
But the negative posts about Heathrow were purged from her website in 2013 and replaced by an error message.
Hundreds of other older news stories dating back to 2006 are still available.
Theresa May’ Maidenhead constituency is just 14 miles west from the proposed site of a new runway.
She was a vocal critic of the last Labour government’s support for a third runway at the UK’s busiest airport.
In one 2008 post she wrote: “As I expected all along, the government paid no attention to the opinions expressed by members of the public and have decided to push ahead with expansion despite all the environmental warnings.”
She added: “I know from all the letters and emails I get that many local people will be devastated by the Government’s decision.”
Before she was in government herself, Mrs May said: “A third runway will result in thousands of additional flights, increased noise and more pollution for thousands of people.”
And she raged: “The Government’s promises on the environmental impact of this are not worth the paper they are written on.”
Last night Lib Dem boss Tim Farron said: “I agree with Theresa, but 2009 Theresa who said Heathrow expansion would damage our environment and negatively impact on her constituents.”
“It is utterly hypocrisy to try and hide her writing and change her position like this.”
He added: “The Tories said no ifs, no buts no Heathrow expansion. It looks like they just lied to the public.”
When probed on the website edits last night a spokesman for the Prime Minister claimed: “No decision has been taken, but the issue isn’t about any one constituency, or one part of the country.”
They added: “This is a vital national decision and will be taken in the national interest to enhance Britain’s infrastructure and show we are open for business.”