Reeves wrong to pit climate vs growth, says Labour MP

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, the government’s growth champion, Labour MP Dan Tomlinson, said the party was “elected on a manifesto that was very clear that growth was our number one focus”.

“We were also clear that we would make very effort to get to clean power by 2030,” he said.

He argued it was possible to simultaneously expand airport capacity and meet climate targets, pointing to technological changes “coming down the track” such as sustainable fuel and electric planes.

Gardiner, who sits on Parliament’s environmental audit committee, argued there was a limit to what technological could achieve.

He said climate experts had concluded there was no way to reach net zero carbon emissions without limiting the aviation sector.