INTERNATIONAL trade minister Greg Hands resigned from the Cabinet yesterday so he can vote against plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

The government has imposed a three-line whip, demanding that Tories show up to back the environmental and social disaster.

Mr Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said he was quitting to honour his promise to constituents at the 2017 election to oppose plans for a bigger Heathrow.

Nearby MP and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has faced calls to follow through on similar promises and quit.

He had vowed in his 2015 election speech that he would put his life on the line to oppose plans for a third runway.

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: “Greg Hands’s resignation piles the pressure on Boris Johnson, who promised his constituents he would ‘lie down in front of the bulldozers’ to stop a third runway.

“Instead he is jetting off to Luxembourg on Monday to avoid the vote because he is too weak to stand by his promises.

“Labour opposes a third runway at Heathrow because it doesn’t meet our four tests and we are calling for a free vote for all parties on Monday.”

Green co-leader Caroline Lucas said: “If Boris Johnson has a backbone, or a shred of credibility left, he will join Greg Hands in resigning.”

The expansion is opposed by environmental groups and many local MPs in West London, but supported by the Unite and GMB unions which say it will create high-quality jobs.