An ex-Labour leader in West London has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that Labour Party officials tried to pressure him into backing a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
Cllr Peter Curling claims these conversations were “consistent” and “informal” and an attempt to steer his own position, which he fears signals a move away from local councillors having autonomy on issues that affect their constituents.
Now an Independent Councillor for Hayes Town, Cllr Curling has gone public about what he says was a “red line” for him.
Cllr Curling was deselected by the Labour Party last month, meaning he cannot run for Labour in the 2026 Hillingdon Council elections. At the time he claimed the party had held against him the fact he has to spend time caring for his 92-year-old mother.
On the subject of Heathrow he said: “Every time I brought up the third runway I was told ‘well you know we’ve got to see because it is a major plank of the government’s economic policy, we don’t really want to be in conflict with them’ and things like that… it was a continual drip sort of pressure that opposition would be frowned upon.”
Residents across Hillingdon broadly oppose the third runway at Heathrow Airport, particularly in the south of the borough, closest to the airport, where Labour hold the most seats. When Rachel Reeves announced the plans in January to press ahead with airport expansion, both Hillingdon Labour, under Curling’s leadership, and the Hillingdon Conservatives, announced their opposition to the expansion in a rare moment of unity.
However, Cllr Curling told the LDRS he is concerned that under the new leadership of Hillingdon Labour, the group may succumb to pressure. He said: “Whenever the subject [third runway] was brought up, I was saying how strongly we [Hillingdon Labour] should be against it.
“I was always being shut down, or the subject would be changed, or [I’d be told] there are benefits to this as well or there are two sides to every story.”
Hillingdon Labour, now under new leadership, says it’s “longstanding position remains unchanged”, although admits it will “revisit the issue when further plans are published”.
Cllr Curling says the pressure he felt was from within the regional London Labour Party. When asked why he didn’t go public about this when he was leader he said: “It’s a balancing act as to whether you want to fight your corner in private or go public with it.
“As a Labour councillor, and Leader of the Labour Group, the last thing I wanted to do was sort of make public that Labour as a party was not committed to the opposition of a third runway.”
(Image: Hillingdon Labour)
He added: “It may have been a factor why [I was deselected], but I don’t think it was a huge factor.”
Cllr Curling claims Sir Keir Starmer taking over as leader of the national party in 2020 prompted an apparent change within Labour towards the autonomy of local parties.
He said: “Before, the national and regional parties have always taken a pragmatic view, and sort of recognised that yes, even in just keeping votes you need to oppose these things… they started increasing the sort of ‘think about the positives’… towards accepting ‘it’s going to happen therefore let’s make the best of it’.”
When government backing for a third runway was announced by the Chancellor in January, Uxbridge and South Ruislip Labour MP, Danny Beales, said Heathrow expansion must only go ahead if it meets four tests. These include ensuring expansion is compatible with climate change commitments, that it will not worsen noise or air pollution, and that it will provide economic benefits to the entire of the UK.
Cllr Curling told the LDRS he fears Hillingdon Labour will slowly move towards adopting this position. However, he says the goalposts for these tests could simply be moved, to fall in line with government policy.
He said: “They could easily say ‘these tests are unrealistic’, the environmental one because of new aviation fuel and all the rest of it. Therefore [they can say] ‘now it meets the new tests’ and away we go.
“[Arguments such as] ‘well we’ve got better air quality because of ULEZ now’ and this and that and the other, you can see all of these arguments being made… you know for me it’s a no matter what, against it. And I think that’s where the pressure and everything came from. No one I’ve spoken to within the party said ‘yes, we get it, we know why you’re against it, absolutely’.”
A spokesperson for Hillingdon Labour said: “The long-standing position of Hillingdon Labour Group’s on Heathrow expansion remains unchanged. We will revisit the issue when further plans are published. However, we are committed to supporting the residents of Heathrow Villages and beyond with our councillors tireless commitment to them.”
London Labour were contacted for comment.
Philip is a Local Democracy Reporter covering Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow, with a focus on council decisions, housing, planning, licensing and community stories across west London.
