GET M4 RELIEF ROAD BUILT, SAYS CBI BOSS
THE boss of employers’ body the CBI has called on politicians to get on with an M4 Relief Road to relieve congestion on the Welsh economy’s major transport artery after 25 years of procrastination.
Addressing a meeting of Cardiff Business Club, director-general of the CBI, Carolyn Fairbairn, also said that time was running out for the UK Government to detail the shape of the future trading relationship with the EU post Brexit, as she called for an “unambiguous transition deal written in stone” by next month.
Speaking at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff she said amongst CBI members the top three priorities that “come up time and time again” was building skills for the future, transforming infrastructure and supporting innovation.
The case for and route of the M4 Relief Road in south Wales is currently being considered by an independent public inquiry commissioned by the Welsh Government.
She said: “It is great news that the business voice got the M4 Relief Road into the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government, but we’re not counting any chickens. The relief road has been on and off the drawing board for a quarter of a century. It’s been kicked into the long grass so many times it’s starting to put down roots.
“Well, every time that’s happened, firms have made it clear that it needs to be put back on track.
So, let me state yet again why Wales needs this investment. The M4 is Wales’ motorway, 70% of Welsh freight is moved by road and much of it via the M4.”
And she said what was a key artery into the “heart of the Welsh economy” was being clogged up, with damaging consequences for the economy
She added: “25 years ago, the case for relieving the M4 was strong. Today it’s overwhelming. It’s been in inquiries, reviews and consultations longer than some here [in the audience] have been alive. But it’s time for the politicians to break the habit of a lifetime. Give it the green light and get it built.
On Brexit she said that the CBI was not “calling for a referendum re-run”.
She added: “But we do want a new relationship with the EU that works for business. There’s so much at stake here in Wales. Like Northern Ireland, Wales, has close links to our nearest EU partner, the Irish Republic.”
She said while the voice of business was being heard, there’s still “nothing like enough clarity and urgency” from the UK Government on the future shape of the trading relationship with the EU following the Brexit transition period.
Ms Fairbairn said: “We need an unambiguous transition deal to be written in stone by March. We need a single shared plan from government following those negative Brexit impact assessments published last week. And we need a heads of terms agreement with the EU on the final deal by October. Then time really is up.”
On the Welsh economy she said there was record employment and rising productivity.
She added: “Companies are doing great things in all sectors, but right now, particularly in tech. South Wales has the biggest cyber security hub outside of London.”
But she added, quoting Michael Saunders of the Monetary Policy Committee, while UK growth was “not terrible, it was not ‘great either”.