Hundreds of homes could be demolished in the west London villages of Harmondsworth and Longford if the expansion gets the green light.

In a major growth speech in Oxfordshire, Reeves said that a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport was "badly needed," adding it would boost investment, support economic expans

British finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to back the expansion of Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, turning to the country's most controversial infrastructure project in her hunt for economic growth.

Plans to expand London's other airports are already further along than Heathrow's and have in the past been viewed as an alternative to a third Heathrow runway. Work is set to start this year to expand capacity at Stansted's terminal. The government is due to make a decision on Gatwick airport by 27 February.

It is the rich and the corporations who will take the lion’s share of the benefits from Labour’s and all airport expansions, while the poorest around the world pay the costs.

Britain's Labour government will back plans for a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport, finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Wednesday, saying the project could create over 100,000 jobs. Reeves said in a speech that the case for a third runway at Heathrow - Britain's busiest hub - was stronger than ever and that it would help boost economic growth.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves gave the government's backing to a long-delayed new runway at London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday as the centrepiece of her plan to speed up the country's sluggish economy.