We’ll make decision to help economy soar

ON Saturday I returned from a ministerial visit to meet investors and the government in Japan.

Getting to know the decision makers in one of our most important economic partners underlined for me the huge importance of meeting people in person.

There is a lot at stake here: billions of pounds of potential investment on which thousands of jobs in this country depend.

Without the modern miracle of air travel, the people I’ve met would just be names and images on a screen, not human beings that I’ve spoken with face-to-face.

Every day, thousands of British business people fan out across the globe – forging the relationships and making the deals on which our future prosperity depends. Meanwhile, travelling in the other direction, we welcome visitors from around the world to see for themselves what this country has to offer. Last year, UK airports had their busiest summer with 78million passengers passing through them.

Brexit means that these global links matter more than ever. If we want to maintain and expand our trading relationships then we need to upgrade the infrastructure that joins us to the world. In a fast moving global economy that has to include air travel.

Airport expansion, though essential, is not easy. If it were, we wouldn’t have had decades of dodging the big decisions.

No new full-length runway has been built in the South East of England since the 1940s. Failure to expand our airports would cost the wider economy between £30-45billion over the next 60 years.

This Government, however, will decide. We are already committed to the expansion of airport capacity in the South East – and, as the Prime Minister has made clear, a decision on the options shortlisted by

the Airports Commission will be made today.

As a Government we are committed to a modern industrial strategy – which includes ensuring that we have the modern infrastructure we need.

The relevance to the aviation industry, one of our most successful and innovative sectors, is obvious. The benefits, however, apply across the board – and not just by widening access to global markets. Just as important is the signal that we send to domestic and foreign investors.

The most successful economies of the 21st century will be those who can provide the infrastructure, skills and research funding that enable business to grow.

Nations who duck the big decisions – or who subordinate long-term policy-making to short-term politics – will be left behind. That is why we must consistently seek the best possible independent advice and then act upon it for the common good, undistracted by vested interests or easy headlines.

On airport expansion, this is the path we have followed – and one which we will apply more broadly.

In short, decisions will be made carefully and by the book, but they will be made.