A LABOUR government would scrap Heathrow expansion plans, leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested yesterday before MPs debated and voted on the proposals.

When asked whether Labour could stop the third runway from being built, he said: “It depends what stage the whole thing has got to by then.”

Mr Corbyn, who allowed Labour MPs a free vote yesterday, added that his party would consider expanding Luton and Stansted or airports in Birmingham and Manchester instead.

Voting took place after the Star went to press, with the majority of MPs expected to back the government.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson drew criticism, even from fellow Tories, for being away in Afghanistan during the vote after having vowed to his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituents that he would “lie down in front of a bulldozer” to oppose expansion.

In an open letter to his constituents quoted in the London Evening Standard, Mr Johnson suggested a third runway may never materialise.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency would be directly affected by the expansion, said he, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the leaders of London boroughs that would suffer from the expansion would challenge the decision in court.

Expansion is supported by around 40 Labour MPs and the Unite and GMB unions.