Economics editor & Business reporter
Rachel Reeves is set to announce a series of major infrastructure projects in a speech in which she is also expected to back plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
The chancellor will outline plans to create “Europe’s Silicon Valley” between Oxford and Cambridge, reaffirming support for a railway between the two university cities.
The series of announcements come as the chancellor faces mounting pressure to deliver on the government’s main pledge to grow the UK economy in order to boost living standards.
A move to encourage a planning application for the expansion of Heathrow is likely to spark strong opposition, but Reeves will say the quest for growth “will not come without a fight”.
The Conservatives have criticised Labour’s plans as “hastily cobbled together”.
On Wednesday, Reeves will declare that the UK’s economy has “huge potential” but will add “for too long, that potential has been held back”.
“Low growth is not our destiny. But growth will not come without a fight. Without a government that is on the side of working people. Willing to take the right decisions now to change our country’s course for the better,” she will say.
The BBC understands there will be no public money for Heathrow and any of the other projects being announced in the speech which will aim to “kick start” economic growth.
The projects to be announced include:
- Support to deliver a so-called “growth corridor” between Oxford and Cambridge to boost the UK economy by £78bn by 2035, as well as confirming funding for East-West Rail
- Backing the redevelopment of Old Trafford, the area surrounding the football stadium of Manchester United
- Environment Agency lifting objections to build 4,5000 new homes as well as schools and leisure facilities around Cambridge
- Nine new reservoirs, including the new Fens Reservoir serving Cambridge and the Abingdon Reservoir near Oxford.
- Upgrading the A428 in a bid to reduce journey times between Milton Keynes and Cambridge.
A third runway at Heathrow would cost tens of billions of pounds and take more than a decade to complete, however, the expansion plans at Gatwick and Luton airports, if approved, are due to start during this parliament.
The government cannot prejudge the results of a formal planning application for a specific runway scheme.
Heathrow has long argued the expansion is needed to help it keep up with rival airports in Europe, which handle less passengers with more runways, with the airport’s boss saying a “clear steer” was needed from the government by the end of 2025.
But many airlines have already expressed concern at the likely costs and there are many within the Labour party who have been against previous expansion plans.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office told the BBC he has “a long-standing opposition to airport expansion around London” because of the impact on air quality and noise.
Growth agenda
The government wants thousands of homes and a new rail link to be developed in the area between Oxford and Cambridge. Reeves committed to deliver East-West Rail in her Budget last year.
Restrictive planning has long stunted the growth of the economy in the area, especially among companies linked to world leading scientific discoveries. There will also be new reservoirs and funding for specialist hospitals.
“To grow, these world-class companies need world-class talent who should be able to get to work quickly and find somewhere to live in the local area. But to get from Oxford to Cambridge by train takes two and a half hours,” the chancellor will say.
“Oxford and Cambridge offer huge economic potential for our nation’s growth prospects.”
The biggest of initiatives to be confirmed are centred in the south east of England, raising some questions about the government’s commitment to the “levelling up” agenda.
But the government will also review the so-called Green Book rules – guidance issued by the Treasury on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects – which it said have in the past biased infrastructure spending to already fast growing areas, mainly in the south.
New powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill aim to cut years off the length periods it has taken to improve major infrastructure.
A senior minister said they were taking big long term decisions ignored by previous governments in the knowledge that “the benefit won’t be achieved until after this parliament, but they are the right long term decisions”.
The Treasury is confident that there will be “spades in the ground well before that”.
Labour has been talking about the importance of economic growth in the months before the general election and in the months after.
However, despite the government’s words on growth, the economy remains sluggish.
Figures from January revealed growth in November, but the 0.1% expansion was less than expected.
The economy has stuttered and stumbled and critics have argued a sense of gloom and pessimism from ministers over the summer and into the autumn made matters worse.
Some ministers acknowledge privately that with hindsight they got that wrong.
Now they appear to be making up for lost time by mentioning growth all the time.
The Conservatives have hit back at Labour’s growth plans.
“The biggest barriers to growth in this country are Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer, and their job destroying Budget,” said shadow chancellor Mel Stride.
“Hastily cobbled together announcements of growth in the 2030s will do nothing to help the businesses cutting jobs right now.”
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “Trying to boost growth without fixing our trading relationship with Europe is like driving with the handbrake on.”
The Lib Dems are calling for “a new UK-EU customs union that would put rocket boosters under the economy”.
