A year to the day after his Airports Commission recommended a third runway at Heathrow, Sir Howard Davies said a decision is needed "more than ever” because of the vote to leave the European Union.

Yesterday the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, announced yet another postponement of a decision on a new runway, expressing the hope that it may now be made in October.

Sir Howard, the chairman of the Airports Commission, told the Today programme on Radio 4: “Brexit is being seen as an insular sign, a nation turning in on itself.” He said that a commitment to airport expansion in London was seen globally as “a touchstone” of the UK’s vision.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

“For those who say we don’t need this, I’d like to know what their economic model for the country is,” he said.

The Davies Commission concluded that a third runway at Heathrow would bring the greatest benefits, generating up to £147bn in GDP impacts over 60 years and creating more than 70,000 new jobs. The final report also shortlisted two other “credible options for expansion” in South East England: a second runway at Gatwick, and an extended northern runway at Heathrow - the so-called “Heathrow Hub”.

Nearly six months later, the Department for Transport responded, saying more work needed to be done on the three shortlisted projects, and promising: “The government will do this quickly so that the timetable for delivering capacity set out by the Airports Commission can be met.

“We anticipate that it will conclude over the summer.”

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Show all 22 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow 1/22 Inside one of the terminal tents in 1946 The year the airport opened. Comfortable armchairs and flowers try to distract from the conditions Graham Bridges collection 2/22 An aerial view of the airport in 1949 Construction of the runway layout and Central Area are under way 3/22 A Pan Am crew checks out the Boeing Stratocruiser N1029V Clipper Golden Eagle in 1954 During the early 1950s, Pan Am and American Overseas Airlines operated Statocruisers into London Airport in direct competition on the North Atlantic route operated by BOAC 4/22 One of the first official London Airport guidebooks C.1953, priced 1s 5/22 In 1950 a permanent concrete terminal building was built This replaced the tents previously used at London Airport North and is seen still in use for charter and cargo flights in this 1959 view via Graham Bridges 6/22 BOAC check-in desk in 1954 Inside the new London Airport North terminal building, just before the move to the Central Area Graham Bridges collection 7/22 Air traffic control tower in the 1960s Inside the visual control room CAA Archives via Pete Bish 8/22 Rear cover of the 1956 guidebook Showing a plan of the airport at the time, with entrance prices to the spectators’ viewing terraces and for airport coach tours 9/22 Spectators in 1958 How close can you get? As soon as the Central Area was open, spectators were afforded unprecedented views of the airliners 10/22 Terminal 3 was opened as the Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 It was built to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building 11/22 Inside Terminal 3 in 1969 Check-in desks for BOAC and QANTAS airlines 12/22 Plane spotting on Heathrow’s viewing terraces in the 1960s Wrap up warm, take your spotting logbooks, pen and binoculars and get your mum to pack your sandwiches 13/22 No 1 Passenger Building Also called the Europa Building. In this photo, taken on 22 June 1963, flags of the many airlines it serves are flown Lee Holden 14/22 Luggage-trailer-towing Routemaster buses When BEA and BOAC merged to form BA on 1 April 1974, both fleets had to be repainted in the new livery, but so did all the ground support equipment 15/22 The entrance to the traffic tunnel in 1974 A Lufthansa Boeing 737 is seen on the runway 16/22 A 40 per cent scale model of Concorde In September 1990 it was erected on the roundabout at the entrance to the tunnel that passes under the northern runway at Heathrow Airport. It was built in four main parts, with an 80ft-long central fuselage section, to which the wings and tail fin were attached. The completed model was placed on the roundabout in September 1990 and was monitored by CCTV and surrounded by an infrared perimeter alarm that was connected to the local Heathrow police station to ensure it was not vandalised 17/22 Heathrow Airport's 50th anniversary On 2 June 1996, Heathrow marked its anniversary with a flypast of representative airliner types that have served the airport over the years. This culminated in a formation flypast by Concorde with Hawks of the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team 18/22 The roof of Terminal 3’s car park One of the last bastions for plane spotters and spectators was here. This is the unfriendly notice that greets anyone who attempts this today Richard Vandervord 19/22 On 24 October 2003 BA withdrew its Concordes from service The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK operated by G-BOAG. Here we see three of the Concordes parked together outside the BA hangar on 8 November 2003 following withdrawal John Hughes 20/22 The new control tower Costing £50 million to construct, it gives controllers an excellent 360-degree panoramic view NATS photograph 21/22 The new Terminal 2 The Queen’s Terminal 22/22 Looking due west down Runway 27L 1/22 Inside one of the terminal tents in 1946 The year the airport opened. Comfortable armchairs and flowers try to distract from the conditions Graham Bridges collection 2/22 An aerial view of the airport in 1949 Construction of the runway layout and Central Area are under way 3/22 A Pan Am crew checks out the Boeing Stratocruiser N1029V Clipper Golden Eagle in 1954 During the early 1950s, Pan Am and American Overseas Airlines operated Statocruisers into London Airport in direct competition on the North Atlantic route operated by BOAC 4/22 One of the first official London Airport guidebooks C.1953, priced 1s 5/22 In 1950 a permanent concrete terminal building was built This replaced the tents previously used at London Airport North and is seen still in use for charter and cargo flights in this 1959 view via Graham Bridges 6/22 BOAC check-in desk in 1954 Inside the new London Airport North terminal building, just before the move to the Central Area Graham Bridges collection 7/22 Air traffic control tower in the 1960s Inside the visual control room CAA Archives via Pete Bish 8/22 Rear cover of the 1956 guidebook Showing a plan of the airport at the time, with entrance prices to the spectators’ viewing terraces and for airport coach tours 9/22 Spectators in 1958 How close can you get? As soon as the Central Area was open, spectators were afforded unprecedented views of the airliners 10/22 Terminal 3 was opened as the Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 It was built to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building 11/22 Inside Terminal 3 in 1969 Check-in desks for BOAC and QANTAS airlines 12/22 Plane spotting on Heathrow’s viewing terraces in the 1960s Wrap up warm, take your spotting logbooks, pen and binoculars and get your mum to pack your sandwiches 13/22 No 1 Passenger Building Also called the Europa Building. In this photo, taken on 22 June 1963, flags of the many airlines it serves are flown Lee Holden 14/22 Luggage-trailer-towing Routemaster buses When BEA and BOAC merged to form BA on 1 April 1974, both fleets had to be repainted in the new livery, but so did all the ground support equipment 15/22 The entrance to the traffic tunnel in 1974 A Lufthansa Boeing 737 is seen on the runway 16/22 A 40 per cent scale model of Concorde In September 1990 it was erected on the roundabout at the entrance to the tunnel that passes under the northern runway at Heathrow Airport. It was built in four main parts, with an 80ft-long central fuselage section, to which the wings and tail fin were attached. The completed model was placed on the roundabout in September 1990 and was monitored by CCTV and surrounded by an infrared perimeter alarm that was connected to the local Heathrow police station to ensure it was not vandalised 17/22 Heathrow Airport's 50th anniversary On 2 June 1996, Heathrow marked its anniversary with a flypast of representative airliner types that have served the airport over the years. This culminated in a formation flypast by Concorde with Hawks of the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team 18/22 The roof of Terminal 3’s car park One of the last bastions for plane spotters and spectators was here. This is the unfriendly notice that greets anyone who attempts this today Richard Vandervord 19/22 On 24 October 2003 BA withdrew its Concordes from service The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK operated by G-BOAG. Here we see three of the Concordes parked together outside the BA hangar on 8 November 2003 following withdrawal John Hughes 20/22 The new control tower Costing £50 million to construct, it gives controllers an excellent 360-degree panoramic view NATS photograph 21/22 The new Terminal 2 The Queen’s Terminal 22/22 Looking due west down Runway 27L

The delay was widely regarded as a political convenience to delay a decision until after the London mayoral election in May in which the Conservative candidate was Zac Goldsmith, a vocal opponent of Heathrow.

An announcement on the runway had been expected next week, and some sources had indicated a decision was to be made as a parting gesture by David Cameron before he stands down as Prime Minister.

The Tory frontrunner for Number 10, Theresa May, is MP for Maidenhead - a constituency that begins just six miles west of Heathrow, and which would be particularly affected by an extended northern runway.

Sir Howard Davies urged a swift rubber-stamping of his recommendation, saying: “If a new prime minister could make a decision quickly, it could be ready by 2026.”

The three-year investigation by the Davies Commission is estimated to have cost up to £20m. In addition, £3m was allocated from Transport for London’s budget to promote the preferred project of the then-Mayor, Boris Johnson, for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.

At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.

Subscribe now