Mrs Burt intervened in the Queen's speech debate on local government and the environment to question the Minister's statement reported over the weekend that he was concerned about the environment but unsure whether future air travellers would need an extra runway at Birmingham.
"I was stunned that one of the first acts of the new minister responsible for tackling climate chaos, even in the light of the Stern report, was to refuse to rule out a second runway, relying instead on the discredited predict and provide model for air traffic development.
"How can the minister be taken seriously as a guardian for the environment when the first thing he does is dither in public over a runway that is not needed?"
