JUST ANNOUNCED: Labour will “get Britain building again” in major boost to critical infrastructure projects

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled a series of reforms that would see a Labour government “get Britain building again”.

The plans would “accelerate the building of critical infrastructure for energy, transport, and technology”, she told Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Monday.

The changes will form a core part of Labour’s mission to increase growth for higher living standards, and help give people hope in politics again.

“Labour’s task is to restore hope to our politics. The hope that lets us face the future with confidence, with a new era of economic security because there is no hope without security,” Reeves said.

“You cannot dream big if you cannot sleep in peace at night. The peace that comes from knowing you have enough to put aside for a rainy day and the knowledge that, when you need them, strong public services will be there for you and your family.

“The strength that allows a society to withstand global shocks because it is from those strong foundations of security, that hope can spring. 

“The choice at the election is this. Five more years of the Tory chaos and uncertainty, which has left working people worse off or a changed Labour Party ready to strengthen Britain’s foundations, so working people are better off.”

The reforms would include:

• Speeding up the planning for critically important infrastructure by updating all national policy statements – which set out what types of projects the country needs – within the first six months of a Labour government
• Fast tracking the planning process for priority growth areas of the economy, such as battery factories, laboratories, and 5G infrastructure
• Ensuring local communities get something back by providing businesses and communities with a menu of potential incentives, which could include cheaper energy bills
• Tackling unnecessary, egregious, and time-consuming litigation by setting clearer national guidance for developers on the engagement and consultation expected with local communities
• Strengthening public sector capacity to expedite planning decisions by raising the stamp duty surcharge on non-UK residents to appoint 300 new planning officers

Setting out the plans in her conference speech, Reeves said:

“If we want to spur investment, restore economic security, and revive growth. Then we must get Britain building again.

“The Tories would have you believe we can’t build anything anymore. In fact, the single biggest obstacle to building infrastructure, to investment and to growth in this country is the Conservative Party itself.

“If the Tories won’t build, if the Tories can’t build, then we will. Taking head on the obstacles presented by our antiquated planning system.

“Since 2012, decision times for national infrastructure have increased by 65 per cent, now taking four years. Labour stands with the builders not the blockers.

“So today I am announcing our plans to get Britain building. A once in a generation set of reforms to accelerate the building of critical infrastructure for energy, transport, and technology. To fast-track battery factories, life sciences and 5G infrastructure and to tackle the litigation which devours time and money before we ever see shovels in the ground.

“And to make sure that when a local community hosts critical national infrastructure, they will feel the benefits, including lower energy bills. 

“It is time we had a government with ambition for our communities. A government siding with the builders not the blockers. A government that will get Britain building again.”

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