David Cameron made environmentalism central to his pitch to reshape the Conservative Party. Today he casts doubt on the case for expanding Heathrow, showing he has no intention of giving up on the issue. Indeed, when it comes to the third runway he has little difficulty in making the Government appear as the party which is prepared to ride roughshod over its own green credentials.

Ministers have yet to give the go-ahead to a third runway but all the indications are that they favour the plan. Mr Cameron is right to cast a cold eye over the simplistic case for expansion: that there is an uncompromising choice between the business case and the environment.

Undeniably, there is business support for a third runway. Heathrow cannot function as it is. Far more passengers - nearly 70 million - are passing through the airport than it was designed for, leading to vexatious delays. But the disruption to residents from a third runway cannot be over-estimated. They have good reason to be concerned that noise will be worse; and to be suspicious that the Government's consultation does not reflect the problem.

His approach would also mean putting the interests of London ahead of that of the owner of Heathrow, BAA. A third of Heathrow passengers are transfer passengers. Their custom is valuable to BAA but contributes little to the capital. Fewer transfer passengers would free up resources for the business traffic on which London's economy really does depend. Mr Cameron has identified confusion inherent in the Government's approach to airport expansion - ministers must respond to that challenge.

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