was left squirming as he was grilled on Labour's backing for the Heathrow expansion.

The Government will support a third runway in a bid to boost growth but the Energy Secretary has been a fierce critic of the proposals in the past.

Asked by BBC Breakfast if he was "for it or just going along with the crowd", the Cabinet minister said: "I'm part of a government that has said it wants to invite applications from Heathrow for a third runway.

"It's got to pass strict environmental conditions and meet our carbon budgets.

"Obviously I'm part of the government and I abide by collective responsibility so that is the position."

Pressed on if that meant he was "pro" a third runway, Mr Miliband added: "Well yes I'm part of a government that has that position.

When it was put to him by presenter Charlie Stayt that it sounded like he was "trying to obfuscate yourself from the decision making process", he went on: "I'm not obfuscating.

"I was part of the decision making process and the decision is as Rachel Reeves set it out. That is the collective decision of the government."

Expanding Heathrow to build a third runway was among a throng of major projects Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Government would support in a speech last week aimed at unlocking economic growth across the UK.

But senior Labour figures, including some of her Cabinet colleagues, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have opposed expansion plans in the past.