Since privatisation, productivity is up 64 per cent, costs down 27 per cent, and bills £120 lower than they would otherwise have been. £190 billion has been invested since 1989.
Meaningful fiscal devolution within England would face huge opposition from Labour councils; anything else would not give town halls the incentive to undertake difficult reforms.
Our generating capacity and National Grid infrastructure are nowhere near ready for a full transition away from fossil fuels, and the political price of forcing lower living standards on voters will be very steep indeed.
The industry has committed to direct £100 billion into infrastructure such as energy generation, power networks, and housing. Politicians from all sides should want to see these measures become law.
The elements that came together to see a Conservative elected Mayor in 2008 – a national mood turning against Labour, a near-celebrity candidate in the as-yet-untarnished form of Boris Johnson, and a radical and increasingly unpopular incumbent – are not currently at hand.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
Wider access to digital opportunities have expanded, particularly with regards to the rollout of fibre broadband and 4G. But our ambition to become a global tech superpower must benefit the entire country.
Senior executives at HS2 Ltd stand accused of having used misleading projections, shredded documents, and forced out whistleblowers to keep money flowing into the project.
The Prime Minister’s proposals for Euston provide the key: a new partnership with business to draw up a new, viable plan for a 21st-century railway between Birmingham and Manchester.
Some projects that had previously been announced were included, as were some projects that had even been completed. Some of the announcements related to local projects for which the decision to proceed rested with regional mayors not central government.
Also: the Scottish Conservatives were one of the few genuinely chipper groups at conference; they seem widely to expect to pick up several seats from the SNP next year.
Shifting heating and transport to electric devices only disguises emissions unless they are powered by a clean grid – and even if not, the extra demand on the system will require vast amounts of new cables and pylons.
“HS2 is in the process of being built, it is transformational… the Prime Minister is absolutely committed to levelling up, and this is part of that levelling up.”
Reports suggest that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt plan both to scrap HS2’s northern link between Birmingham and Manchester and to stop the line from terminating at London Euston.
Every part of the country is set to benefit from the decision to reallocate funding, including places that would have never seen any benefit from that mammoth rail project.