Daily Mail

Future-proofing Britain

- Alex Brummer

THE Crossrail delays and overspend are hugely disappoint­ing. Europe’s biggest and most complex constructi­on project was due to be up and running last December but could now be delayed until 2021.

There is palpable anger among Government ministers, with the Chancellor Philip hammond and the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling among those frustrated at broken commitment­s. The escalating cost from £14.8bn to £17.6bn shows a cavalier approach to the way taxpayers’ money is spent.

Fortunatel­y, at this late stage, no one is suggesting that this project – with the fleet of Bombardier Class 345 Aventra trains already built – should be mothballed.

The concern must be that Crossrail will be used by the critics, led by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, as a political weapon to halt the UK’s next big infrastruc­ture project – hS2.

This would be in an exercise of nimbyism and leadership ambition disguised as zero budgeting. Brexit or not, building new infrastruc­ture for Britain will be vitally important if we are to underpin a strong jobs market with improved productivi­ty. There is a tendency to beat ourselves up and think that we are more incompeten­t at infrastruc­ture than our global competitor­s. But that is not wholly true.

Japan is struggling with the pressures of the nuclear clean-up from the Fukushima disaster, stadium building for the rugby World Cup and the next Olympics.

The US has countless unfinished bridge projects and, as visitors to Washington will be only too aware, the fast rail link from Dulles Airport to downtown has proceeded at snail’s pace amid escalating costs.

Only in China, where there are no planning rules or politics to get in the way and there is a bottomless pit of money, is infrastruc­ture delivered ahead of time. There can be no excuses for the Crossrail debacle and there is plenty of blame to share among all those involved. Certainly, there should be no bonuses for failing Crossrail bosses.

But it is also worth noting that among the main reasons for delay are safety- critical and largely untested software systems being fitted to the trains.

Better that the IT snags are sorted than the Elizabeth Line and train drivers end up with the kind of problems faced by Boeing Max jets, where new software was grafted onto an older airframe.

Which brings us to hS2. Criticisms of the imaginativ­e £56bn high-speed rail line running from Euston to Birmingham and eventually Manchester and Leeds are of three kinds: escalating costs, the disruption in the Tory heartlands and of the ‘Wouldn’t it be better to fix commuter routes first?’ type. Clearly, if taxpayer confidence is to be maintained, holding the cost down is vital.

But there has to be recognitio­n that snags such as the Carillion and Interserve implosions, higher-than-expected compensati­on demands from landowners, and unexpected environmen­tal obstacles will push up the final bill.

hS2 is not the enemy of commuters. In part it is a bypass, a little like the M6 toll road, taking pressure off the rest of the rail network and easing pinch-points in the East Midlands. It is no excuse for not modernisin­g commuter and trans-Pennine routes or preparing for hS3 if the Northern Powerhouse is really to become a reality.

Britain finds it all too easy to find budgetary and other excuses not to press ahead with infrastruc­ture. Bazalgette’s London sewage system would never have been completed had big-spend critics had their way.

One only has to explore the Crossrail route, through some less salubrious parts of the South East, to recognise how infrastruc­ture (even before it is operationa­l) can lift developmen­t and aspiration.

Disguised pay

YOU have to have a little sympathy for Ross McEwan, who has steered Royal Bank of Scotland back from the brink of disaster.

But it should never be forgotten that RBS is a taxpayer-controlled bank and the board headed, by Sir howard Davies, ought to be exemplars of good governance, especially with Marxist John McDonnell waiting in the wings.

It is unacceptab­le for chief executive McEwan to receive a pension allowance equal to 35pc of salary when staff contributi­ons average 10pc.

McEwan should waive the payment rather than risk a bloody nose at next week’s annual meeting, which is symbolical­ly due to be held at the Fred Goodwin memorial folly in Gogarburn.

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