Western Morning News (Saturday)
We must invest in infrastructure
Ian Handford says Government has confirmed its commitment to growing the economy, yet cutting or cancelling capital projects hardly endorses that message
IFIND it terribly sad Government has cancelled the commission to construct a replacement Royal Yacht (Britannia), believing the money would be better spent constructing a Naval ship designed to protect Britain’s undersea communication cables, said to be under threat from Russian ships.
Although ‘Britannia’ would have cost taxpayers £250 million, it is interesting to note that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has NOT confirmed the cost of the new ship.
Confirming this change in Government policy, Mr Wallace states we have “terminated the competition to build a new ship with immediate effect” – continuing that “it is right we prioritise delivering capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure – by improving our ability to detect threats to the seabed and cables”.
I have long supported Britannia, although it has now fallen foul of cutbacks by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his recent budget. In needing to cut the national debt (which exceeds two and a half trillion pounds) this seeming priority by the Chancellor in his first financial statement accompanies the announcement that no new prison buildings are to be built in the foreseeable future, as part of his £33 billion cutback on capital projects.
The major concern for me is that Government has confirmed its commitment in growing the economy, yet cutting or cancelling capital projects hardly endorses that message. Infrastructure cuts or cancellations will affect employment and investment which in my view could be seen as negative actions by investors at home and abroad.
There are currently numerous capital projects threatened by cuts or in the worst scenario cancellation, including the highly controversial HS2 project (already modified) and Smart Motorway schemes plus of course now the additional U-turn on fracking. In supporting fracking from its outset, I welcomed the U-turn by Prime Minister Liz Truss in giving her approval for the recommencement of fracking, subject to justy one proviso – local support must be given. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and new Chancellor Mr Hunt have now reversed that U-turn and banned the contractors from recommencing work anywhere in the UK, while giving a lifeline to the Sizewell Nuclear Plant scheme. One wonders if a future Government might similarly U-turn on this later.
Capital projects in Britain are historically seen as a safe bet for investment once the vagaries of parliament have been negotiated. The completion of Eurostar and its new St Pancras station in the 1990s and the completion of the Elizabeth tube line and its Bond Street station, and the Battersea Power Station reconstruct, were all huge capital projects seen as ending the doom and gloom forecasters. Travellers wanting to go to Europe without boarding a slow moving ship or travelling by air made Eurostar my top star of the last 30 years. Meanwhile, seeing many capital projects fail, including the new London Airport at Maplin on the Thames Estuary and more recently the suspension of official backing by ex-Chancellor Phil Hammond who suddenly lost faith in the Hitachi Nuclear facility at Anglesey, became major setbacks for their region. When official backing was withdrawn to Hitachi, we learned they had been extremely enthusiastic to complete this facility.
But now our most recent negative decision on fracking is dire, as this would have resulted in the UKL getting cheap energy within months. Had Prime Minister Liz Truss not resigned we might all have benefitted from cheap energy as happened in America. Now domestic and business consumers alike have to deal with high increases.
If fracking contractors had been able to proceed, after they achieved permission of locals, they would now be drilling. Yet they are now in limbo until a formal appeal is mounted, which could take months. Bad Government decisions ultimately make or break any long term business and yet where a bad or wrong decision – maybe through incompetency or lack of leadership – occurs it always leaves taxpayers footing the bill.
Potentially, British people are seen as inspirational not lethargic and yet when not backing infrastucture projects investors here and abroad might view leaders as negative at a time when the economy is struggling.
Judi Spiers makes the case for helping the homless, as patron of the Shekinah Mission