UK cannot afford to not build runways, says Reynolds ahead of key Reeves speech
The Chancellor is due to set out policies on Wednesday to encourage economic growth, including an expected expansion of Heathrow airport.
The UK “can’t afford” to be a country that “doesn’t build runways” or other major projects, a senior minister has said ahead of a major economic speech by Rachel Reeves.
The Chancellor is due to set out policies on Wednesday to encourage economic growth, including an expected expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Critics of the Government have said the plans are in conflict with the UK’s environmental commitments, but Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds warned the UK risks being “left behind” if it does not go for growth.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I want people to know that things that have been too difficult in the past will be focused on, will be changed, will be delivered on, by this Government.
“It’s not just about aviation expansion, there’s a whole range of things.”
He added: “We’re not going to have endless judicial reviews effectively try to second-guess democratically-elected decisions from the elected government of the day. We will follow process, but that process has got to be one that can deliver the things.
“We simply cannot afford to say we don’t build reservoirs any more, we don’t build railways, we don’t build runways. That’s not good enough, we will be left behind.”
Ms Reeves’ speech in Oxfordshire on Wednesday is expected to lay out plans for projects around the Oxford and Cambridge region, which she will hail as having “the potential to be Europe’s Silicon Valley”.
The UK is a country of “huge potential” but “for too long, that potential has been held back”, Ms Reeves will say.
An announcement of a new third runway at Heathrow is also expected, and Ms Reeves will reiterate the Government’s backing for the redevelopment of the area around Manchester United’s football stadium Old Trafford.
The Government has ambitions for “the wider housing and residential and leisure offer that could be put in that place” around the stadium, Mr Reynolds told the BBC.
Ahead of the speech, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “clear out the regulatory weeds” to encourage growth in a Times newspaper opinion piece.
The Prime Minister added: “In the 1980s, the Thatcher government deregulated finance capital. In the New Labour era, globalisation increased the opportunities for trade. This is our equivalent.”
Among the critics of Heathrow’s expansion is Dale Vince, the boss of energy company Ecotricity, who donated £5 million to Labour in the run-up to the general election.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it’s a mistake. Actually, I think it’s an illusion of growth.
“It’ll take 10 years to build a runway, cost maybe £50 billion. It’ll create the wrong kind of growth – we’ll be exporting tourism money abroad, creating a bigger imbalance than we already have, and it will come at the expense of our carbon-cutting effort.”
The key points of Ms Reeves’ speech are expected to include:
– Plans to boost economic growth in the region between Oxford and Cambridge to transform it into Europe’s equivalent of Silicon Valley and add up to £78 billion to the UK economy by 2035.
– New reservoirs will be built near Abingdon in Oxfordshire and in the Fens near Cambridge. They will be among nine new reservoirs built as the Government has agreed for water companies to invest £7.9 billion to improve infrastructure.
– Funding for the East-West rail link joining Oxford, Cambridge and towns like Bedford and Milton Keynes that sit between them will be confirmed, as well as upgrades to the A428 road.
– A new Cambridge cancer research hospital will be prioritised as part of the new hospitals programme.
– Oxford will get a growth commission, similar to one set up in Cambridge, aimed at helping the city and surrounding region to grow its economy.
– Alongside support for a proposed third runway at west London’s Heathrow, the Treasury is expected to endorse expansion at Gatwick and Luton airports.
– Ms Reeves will back the redevelopment of Manchester United’s stadium, Old Trafford.
– Government guidance on appraising major projects will be reviewed in order to support investments outside of the wealthy and productive south east of England.
