A Labour MP who represents residents around Heathrow was suspended from the House of Commons today after picking up the parliamentary mace in the start of a "direct action" protest against the Government's £9 billion expansion plans.

After hearing Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, giving the green light to a third runway and sixth terminal in a controversial statement to MPs, John McDonnell (Lab, Harlington and Hayes) marched down the steps of the Commons, picked up the mace and placed it on the Labour frontbench, where ministers sit.

He then shouted: “It’s a disgrace to the democracy of this country”, before leaving the Chamber. He was then suspended for five days. The ceremonial mace rests on the table in front of the Speaker when the Commons is sitting and is a symbol of its authority.

Earlier, Mr McDonnell had said that "every mechanism possible", including direct action, would be used in the coming months to stop the expansion of Heathrow.

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This will lead to the biggest campaign of direct action the country has ever seen

Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

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"The Government’s announcement is not the end of the battle against the third runway, it is just the beginning," he said.

"Opponents will use every mechanism possible to prevent the runway going ahead, including campaigns in Parliament, in the courts, in the planning process, in the media and if necessary in direct action."

Mr Hoon told MPs that Labour had given the green light to build a third runway at Heathrow – subject to what he said were several environmental safeguards – because failing to do so would "damage our economy".

The Transport Secetary added that he was curbing potential damage by ensuring that only the cleanest planes would get takeoff slots and that, initially, the number of extra flights would be limited to 125,000 a year, rather than the 220,000 envisaged in the Government’s 2003 Aviation White Paper. This would take the number of flights up to around 605,000 a year from the current 480,000.

He added that a package of transport and environmental measures – including the possibility of a north-south high-speed rail line and a Heathrow International Airport station – would be put in place. The runway itself is due to be completed between 2015 and 2020.

“It is essential we take the right decisions now – for the economy, to drive down greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and to support British jobs," Mr Hoon said.

The Conservatives led opposition in the House of Commons, however, with Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary, describing the move as a "bleak day for our environment". She added: “Labour’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow would inflict devastating damage on the environment... and the Conservatives will fight them every step of the way."

The mace has proved the ultimate target for angry MPs, and the type of protest employed by Mr McDonnell was most famously used by Michael Heseltine when he grabbed it and held it aloft in 1976. He had been enraged by some Labour MPs singing the Red Flag during the passage of the hotly-disputed Aircraft and Shipbuilding Bill.

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