If there’s one thing which ought to unite even the most passionate partisans of the different proposals, it’s the abject state of British decision-making on infrastructure.
We must level-up the country. By providing the funds we need, the Government will send a vote of confidence in the power of local decision-making.
An estuary airport was touted as his big idea on flight capacity during his time as Mayor of London. There’s nobody to stop him now.
Johnson and Shapps may lose a legal case over the expansion plan, and then decide whether or not to go to their favourite place – the Supreme Court.
My answer would be “maybe, provided the spending or tax cuts significantly improved our growth potential.”
To make the most of the policy’s potential, Government must pair it with a raft of other reforms.
“We can consign the next generation to overcrowding, standing up in the carriageways or we can have the guts to take a decision.”
Ministers have been asked to push the Government’s priorities – tackling crime, funding the NHS, “levelling up”. How can these be effected without faster growth?
“Christianity and the western past are badly stained by violence and injustice, but I am not sure that we should so casually throw away the inheritance of our culture.”
The most important sector is one usually ignored. Small firms constitute 99 per cent of all business in the country.
We in the regions must accept that it will be up to us to provide the detailed data that will help to monitor the success of investment made.
“I don’t want, as UK prime minister, to put in any infrastructure that is going to prejudice our national security.”
The project has its vocal supporters, but there are many areas in the North of England which it will not help at all.
A better railway is crucial to delivering prosperity in every part of the country, connecting communities and transforming regional economies.
It may deliver better value than other mega-projects – more ‘levelling up’ across the UK and perhaps even help preserve the union itself.