The chairman of Heathrow airport has accused politicians of putting politics before the economy after the government delayed a decision on a third runway at Heathrow.
Sir Nigel Rudd launched the attack on ministers after announcing he would be stepping down from his role in September.
He said opponents of a third runway were holding the rest of the country “to ransom”, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Sir Nigel is quoted as saying: “Politics trumps economics. It’s probably great politics but it’s terrible economics.”
But he said he still believed a third runway at Heathrow would “eventually” go ahead.
“It’s difficult to understand the thinking behind the decision to throw it into the long grass other than it’s political, that the Prime Minister has enough on with the European referendum,” Sir Nigel said.
The Heathrow chairman also slammed London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who has promised to quit as an MP in the area if a third runway at Heathrow gets the go-ahead.
Sir Nigel said: “The support we have from the Scots, from Wales, from Bristol, from the West Country and Yorkshire tells you that people are desperate to have this connectivity, and we’re being held to ransom by Zac Goldsmith and a few MPs who have interests in their constituencies that they feel they’ve got to represent.”