LONDON: British MPs overwhelmingly approved on Monday (Jun 25) long-awaited plans to build a third runway at London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, after decades of acrimonious debate over its potential impact. Boris Johnson, currently the UK’s foreign secretary and formerly the mayor of London—and a long-time opponent of a third Heathrow runway—missed the vote because of a trip to Afghanistan, prompting taunts of “Where’s Boris?” from some Members of Parliament during the vote. "This is a momentous vote that has been 50 years in the making and represents the biggest transport decision in a generation," said Transport Secretary Chris Grayling ahead of securing approval for the plan. But immediately following the vote, environmental campaign group Greenpeace UK said it was ready to challenge the runway in court with a cross-party group of London councils and the city's mayor Sadiq Khan. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption John McDonnell makes an impassioned plea to halt Heathrow expansion

Environmental activists earlier staged a "lie-in" over Heathrow in Parliament's central lobby, just metres away from MPs preparing to vote on the proposals. Eight Conservative MPs voted against the government, including former cabinet ministers Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers, Greg Hands - who resigned last week as international trade minister - and Adam Afriyie, Sir David Amess, Bob Blackman, Zak Goldsmith and Matthew Offord. The main opposition Labour party is against Heathrow's expansion but has given its MPs a free vote and many will back the plan, particularly as it has trade union support.
The UK's House of Commons votes 415–119 to approve a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport.