Business
Ministers yet to seek climate advice on Heathrow expansion
Joshua NevettPolitical reporter
PA MediaThe UK government’s climate change advisory panel has said it has not yet been asked to formally assess how plans to expand Heathrow airport would impact on carbon emissions targets.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) told the BBC it would give a view on plans to build a third runway at Heathrow if advice was requested.
The government said the expansion must not breach the UK’s legally binding target of lowering emissions to net zero by 2050.
The CCC is required by law to assess whether the target will be met and it has repeatedly cautioned against airport expansion.
The government said it was assessing initial proposals on Heathrow expansion and would engage with the committee during the process.
Ministers can ask the CCC for ad-hoc advice on specific policy issues but is under no legal duty to follow it.
Lord Deben, a former CCC chairman, said there was “limited space for aviation growth” without emissions reductions.
“If they give planning permission for expansion of Heathrow that inevitably means there will be less opportunity for other airports in Britain,” Lord Deben said.
“This must be a sensible, logical decision and the CCC must be involved in giving advice.”
Greenpeace UK said there was an obvious need for independent experts at the committee “to assess the real risks and costs of any expansion”.
“Any attempt to side-step them would show a complete lack of confidence in Labour’s stated position regarding the tests a new runway needs to pass, and more importantly, miss the legal requirement for UK carbon reductions,” Dr Douglas Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK, said.
The CCC also told the BBC it had not been asked to provide advice on any future expansion of Gatwick Airport.
A decision on a proposed second runway at Gatwick is expected in the coming weeks after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “minded to approve” the expansion in February.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Labour government was backing plans for a third runway at Heathrow in January this year.
Reeves said Heathrow expansion, delayed for decades over environmental concerns, would “make Britain the world’s best connected place to do business” and boost economic growth.
At the time, the government said the expansion “must be delivered in line with the UK’s legal, environmental and climate obligations”.
The expansion of Heathrow has long been opposed by green groups and it is expected to face resistance and probably legal challenges, not least because of its environmental impact.
In July, the CEO of Heathrow Airport, Thomas Woldbye, insisted the expansion proposal was in line with the aviation industry’s target to be net zero by 2050.
But he acknowledged that planning permission would not be granted by the government unless legal limits of emissions were adhered to.
The government wants to review planning guidelines that will shape its decisions to expand Heathrow, Gatwick and other major airports.
Giving evidence to MPs this week, the CCC’s chief economist, Dr James Richardson, said it wasn’t too late to influence the review, which has not been launched yet.
But Labour MP Barry Gardiner said he was seriously worried the CCC was “acquiescing in what the government is planning for aviation”.
He questioned why the government had not sought the CCC’s advice before announcing its support for Heathrow’s expansion.
ReutersThe Climate Change Committee gave its most recent advice on aviation emissions in the Seventh Carbon Budget.
The budget, published in February, said the sector can reach net zero through the roll-out of sustainable aviation fuel, the electrification of planes, and managing growth in demand for flights.
But the committee suggested limiting airport expansion to reduce emissions and warned the development of low-carbon aviation technologies was “uncertain”.
“The aviation sector needs to take responsibility for its emissions reaching net zero by 2050,” the committee said.
“The cost of decarbonising aviation and addressing non-CO2 effects should be reflected in the cost to fly. This will help manage growth in aviation demand in line with net zero.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The government is assessing initial proposals on Heathrow expansion – a significant step towards unlocking growth, creating jobs, and delivering vital national infrastructure to drive forward our Plan for Change.
“The assessment of proposals is being conducted to support the forthcoming Airports National Policy Statement review, and we will engage the Climate Change Committee throughout this process.
“We have been clear any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments, and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.”
Additional reporting by BBC transport correspondent Katy Austin
Food bills are set to soar as much as 10 per cent this year as a direct consequence of the Iran war, a key industry body has warned.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers, has hiked its inflation forecast for the year from 3.2 per cent to between nine and 10 per cent.
During the 2022 cost of living crisis, food inflation rose at a rate of 10.9 per cent, figures from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) show, while the following year was even worse at 14.6 per cent.
Since then, it had dropped back to 2.7 per cent (2024) and 4.2 per cent (2025), but while this year had originally been forecast to deliver food inflation of 3.2 per cent, the latest assessment is that it will instead see a huge rise in the second half of 2026.
The FDF said the current situation is “unprecedented and hard to predict”, but it’s “clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead”.
How much that adds to the average bill depends on the size and frequency of a consumer’s usual grocery habits, but on average, bills could rise by around £588, according to some estimates.
Consumer rights and review site Which? frequently assesses UK supermarkets for cost, and at the start of 2026, an average basket of 89 shopping products cost £161.56 at Aldi and up to £217.02 at Waitrose.
Assuming food inflation lands at the mid-point of the FDF forecast, 9.5 per cent, and that all products and supermarkets applied that uplift equally, that would move the costs of those shops up to £176.91 and £237.64 respectively.
Research from confused.com suggested the average UK household spent £119 each week on food shopping, which is £6,188 each year; a 9.5 per cent uplift to that equates to an extra £588 annually, or a total of just over £130 per week and £6,775 annually.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to meet with some supermarket chiefs on Wednesday, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, over discussions to assess the upcoming impact of price rises on the cost of living. The Treasury has described it as a “fact-finding” conversation.
Last month, Asda boss Allan Leighton called on Labour to do more to help businesses after creating “a lot of constraints” for them.
For food manufacturers, there is both a concern now and another yet to come in terms of energy cost rises.
Diesel – used in farm machinery – is up by 80 per cent since the start of the war, while fertiliser costs could increase further, as well as supply being constrained. The FDF also points to lost sales due to cancelled shipments to the Middle East, with UK firms regularly exporting cheese, cereals, chocolate and more to the region.
Dr Liliana Danila, chief economist at The Food and Drink Federation, said: “The food and drink sector is already feeling the force of this geopolitical shock. As one of the UK’s energy-intensive industries, manufacturers are facing mounting energy bills, rising transport and packaging costs and disruption across key supply chains.
“These pressures are hitting simultaneously and are a significant challenge for businesses to absorb.
“The current situation is unprecedented and hard to predict; however, given the scale and speed of these cost increases, and despite companies’ best efforts not to pass price increases on, it’s clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead.”
The FDF says its upgraded inflation figures were based on “assumptions that the Strait of Hormuz opens to cargo traffic within the next two to three weeks”, as has been suggested by Donald Trump this week, and that most commodities, including oil, gas and fertiliser production, return to normal within a year.
In the past few months, the FDF has repeatedly called for the government to offer support to businesses in the sector from rising energy bills in the same way as it does to those in some other manufacturing areas.
GST collections: India’s net Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased to Rs 1.78 lakh crore in March 2026, marking a rise of 8.2% compared to the previous month, according to official figures released on Wednesday.Gross GST revenue for March stood at Rs 2 lakh crore, which is an 8.8% increase over the same month last year.Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head & Partner, KPMG says, “GST collections continue to show steady 9% annual growth, supported by strong import activity this month and consistent compliance. While export refunds have eased this month but remain healthy overall for the year”Refunds during the month totalled Rs 0.22 lakh crore, up 13.8% on a year-on-year basis, which resulted in net GST collections of Rs 1.78 lakh crore.Domestic GST revenue reached Rs 1.46 lakh crore, registering a growth of 5.9%, while revenue from imports was recorded at Rs 0.54 lakh crore, rising sharply by 17.8% during the period.Post-settlement GST figures across states presented a varied trend. While industrially advanced states recorded strong growth, several others reported a decline.Maharashtra contributed the highest amount to the overall collections at Rs 0.13 lakh crore on a pre-settlement basis, followed by Karnataka and Gujarat.Among states showing an increase in post-settlement SGST collections were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, among others.On the other hand, states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, among others, registered a decline in post-settlement SGST revenues.
A wave of bullishness swept the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, pushing the 100 Index up by more than 5,000 points to reach 153,700.
The surge reflects increased investor confidence and strong trading activity across major sectors.
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