Labour unveil infrastructure plan to drive growth

Labour have unveiled plans to speed up infrastructure projects to “drive growth and investment into the UK”.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will use her speech at the Labour conference to make the case for overhauling planning rules to speed up green energy and 5G projects.

Cutting regulations will unlock £50bn a year in investment, Labour said.

The reforms would also “get more money into the pockets of working people”, Ms Reeves told the BBC.

Under plans announced on Monday, Labour would hire 300 new planners across the public sector and re-write planning guidance to speed up the process.

Planning applications would be fast-tracked for battery factories, laboratories and 5G infrastructure.

Labour said it would also tackle time-consuming legal challenges by setting clearer national guidance for developers on consulting local communities.

If in power, Labour would offer community perks, such as lower bills, to those near large projects.

Decision times for major projects have increased by two-thirds since 2012, to four years according to Ms Reeves, and economic growth and net zero considerations need to be factored in.

Infrastructure “fit for the future” would drive growth and create new jobs, Ms Reeves told BBC Radio 4 Today.

Labour’s mission is to “to have the highest sustained growth in the G7”, Ms Reeves said.

With greater investment “we can create those good jobs paying decent wages and get more money into the pockets of working people”.

Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, welcomed the proposals, saying long-term investment in infrastructure was a “key ingredient to get our economy back to growth”.

“We are pleased to see a future Labour government would support the building of large-scale factories and improve our digital infrastructure, such as 5G connectivity,” she said.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) also welcomed Ms Reeves’ proposals as a “clear, grown-up policy”.

Delegates will vote on whether the party should adopt the policy, which is opposed by Ms Reeves and Labour’s leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The union’s motion calls for UK energy to be brought into public ownership, and also to commit to deliver infrastructure projects, including HS2.

Last week, Sir Keir said Labour couldn’t commit to HS2’s northern leg after the announcement by PM Rishi Sunak that it would be scrapped.

Unite leader Sharon Graham accused the Labour party of being “timid”.

“Labour need to act more like a 1945 transformative government,” she told the Today programme.

Ms Graham said she thought the shadow chancellor was “doing a good job, but I don’t think we’re going to get the type of growth they’re talking about quickly”.

It is time “to look at the economy differently”, she said.

Labour has also proposed establishing an anti-corruption commissioner aimed at recovering money lost as a result of fraud and waste during the pandemic, which would bring together HMRC, the Serious Fraud Office and the National Crime Agency.

Covid fraud has cost the taxpayer £7.2bn, Ms Reeves will say.

She will tell the conference in Liverpool that just 2% of fraudulent Covid grants – “with every one of those cheques signed by Rishi Sunak as chancellor” – have been recouped.

She will promise to appoint a Covid corruption commissioner with full powers to take cases to court and “claw back every penny of taxpayers’ money that they can”.

“That money belongs in our NHS, it belongs in our schools, it belongs in our police – we want that money back,” she will say.