{"id":91976,"date":"2026-04-29T07:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T06:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=91976"},"modified":"2026-04-29T07:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T06:21:41","slug":"the-benefits-of-starmer-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/04\/29\/the-benefits-of-starmer-going\/","title":{"rendered":"The benefits of Starmer going"},"content":{"rendered":"

The FT noted this morning<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

Heathrow\u2019s plan for a third runway is facing growing political uncertainty as the chances rise of chancellor Rachel Reeves leaving office this year, people close to the airport and the government have said.<\/p>\n

The airport faces a race to secure formal planning approval for the runway \u2014 needed before it can begin building \u2014 before 2029. Many in the industry consider the timeline extremely ambitious.<\/p>\n

Reeves resurrected the third runway plan in January 2025 and has been seen as a champion of the project. Losing her as chancellor would \u201crisk\u201d the entire project, a person close to Heathrow said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why note this? Three reasons.<\/p>\n

First, we can do without Reeves, a Chancellor as poor and small-minded as Starmer has been as Prime Minister; a near-fatal combination for the prospects of a government.<\/p>\n

Second, we can do without an extension to Heathrow. No government that takes climate change seriously should be planning such a folly now.<\/p>\n

Third, rumour has it that Starmer is planning a reshuffle of his government just after the disastrous Scottish, Welsh parliament, and English local council election results are announced in a little over a week's time, as if reshuffling his useless team will save his own skin when no one thinks that achievable.<\/p>\n

I am sure Reeves will survive that reshuffle, but what Starmer will create by reshuffling his team is more enemies willing to bring him down, and no one will put Reeves back in the Treasury after Starmer falls, as he surely will.<\/p>\n

So, let's hope Starmer does indeed head the way of most recent British prime ministers, by departing mid-way through his term. The triple benefit will be that he will have gone, Reeves will go, and Heathrow will not get a disastrous new runway, with the effort required to build it instead going into making the UK a more energy-efficient, sustainable, and resilient economy.<\/p>\n

For once, I can live in hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FT noted this morning that: Heathrow\u2019s plan for a third runway is facing growing political uncertainty as the chances rise of chancellor Rachel Reeves
 Read the full article…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,108,74,118,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","category-environment","category-green-new-deal","category-labour","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91976"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91981,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91976\/revisions\/91981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}