LONDON, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The British government Tuesday backed a 20 billion-U.S.dollar project for a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport as its option for increasing air capacity in South East England.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced the decision ahead of making a statement to the House of Commons.
On earlier Tuesday, the cabinet, meeting at 10 Downing Street, gave its support to the expansion at Heathrow, though there was strong opposition in the cabinet, particularly from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, former mayor of London.
Although the government approval for the third runway option is a critical stage in the long-running saga, a lengthy consultation process will now start. Members of parliament are not expected to make a final decision for at least a year.
Grayling described the third runway option at Heathrow as the best decision for the country. He termed the decision as truly momentous and said expansion would improve Britain's connections with the rest of the world and support trade and jobs.
Prime Minister Theresa May said it was a decision made "for jobs and growth and showed that post-Brexit Britain will be an open, global, successful country".
May said: "After decades of delay, we are showing that we will take the big decisions when they're the right decisions for Britain, and we will ensure they're right for ordinary working people too."
"Airport expansion is vital for the economic future of the whole of the UK and today also provides certainty to Londoners. Businesses will know that we are building the infrastructure they need to access global markets."
As well as already being one of the world's busiest airports and the busiest in Europe, Heathrow also handles a quarter of all goods exported from Britain, making it one of the country's biggest cargo ports.
The decision on Tuesday caused dismay among villagers living in communities in and around Heathrow. Many have been fighting an expansion of Heathrow since plans were first put forward in the 1990s.
If the project crosses many opposition hurdles that lay ahead, it will lead to the demolition of hundreds of homes, with several long-established villages virtually disappearing.
But backers of Heathrow expansion say a third runway will increase capacity, create 76,000 jobs and earn billions of dollars for the British economy.
Three potential options were presented to the government, including extending one of the existing two runways at Heathrow and increasing capacity at London's rival airport, Gatwick.
The third runway option was the scheme most opponents dreaded, saying it will have the biggest impact.
Boris Johnson said he would continue to oppose the Heathrow plan, while leading Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith is considering resigning and standing in a by-election as an anti-Heathrow independent candidate.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "We welcome the news that Heathrow is the government's preferred site for a new runway and look forward to hearing the full details later from the Transport Secretary."
"Expansion of Heathrow is the only option that will connect all the UK to global growth, helping to build a stronger and fairer economy."
"Heathrow stands ready to work with government, businesses, airlines and our local communities to deliver an airport that is fair, affordable and secures the benefits of expansion for the whole of the UK," the spokesperson added.
Trainer Gu Haifang carefully feeds a fighting cricket in his cramped Shanghai apartment. One of eight selected to battle in the city's cricket tournament Greg Robinson Youth Jersey , the gladiator has been fed a special diet to get fully prepared.[Photos by Gao Erqiang]
Battling bugs no small passion for fans, patrons and purveyors
It's two weeks to go before plucky Purple Golden Wing jumps into the arena for his once-in-a-lifetime fight.
To prepare, the promising gladiator is shifting from his staple diet of corn Michael Roberts Youth Jersey , wheat and rice to a more carnivorous fare of shrimp, goat liver and snake meat to "get fully charged" for the fight, said his trainer and patron.
Purple Golden Wing is a cricket Jalen Reeves-Maybin Youth Jersey , a species of the purple kind, the most aggressive among the six common types.
For the past two months he and another 100 or so crickets have been carefully looked after by retired property manager Gu Haifang in a corner of his cramped apartment in Shanghai.
Purple Golden Wing is one of the few — eight to be exact — of the elite class selected from a hundred candidates found in fields of Henan province by the 63-year-old cricket master as he sought a champion to battle in the city's final fight of the year in October.
The contest Gu and Purple Golden Wing entered, a cricket fighting competition in Lyuhua town in Chongming county Kenny Golladay Youth Jersey , is one of the largest in town, if not the country.
Interest in authentic Chinese pastimes, rather than hobbies such as golf or karaoke Teez Tabor Youth Jersey , is on the rebound. Cricket fighting, a tradition cultivated by emperors in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and revived over the past two decades, is making a comeback.
"It's a very 'intelligentsia' game Jarrad Davis Youth Jersey , but at the same time masculine enough," said Gu, who first embraced the hobby at the age of seven in the alleys of his hometown under the guidance of his father.
The self-described "thrifty diehard" spends 10 Nick Bellore Jersey ,000 yuan ($1,634) or so every year on his passion. Money aside, it takes him at least five hours a day to feed Jeff Locke Jersey , bathe and examine his 100-plus warriors, even dropping females one-by-one into their "bedrooms" every night to "cheer them up". He separates them in the morning.
"My wife complains that I am like having a hundred babies every year at this season," he said.
But he doesn't find it eccentric because the "craze is very common among (his) many cricket friends".