Heading in the right direction?

MARGARET Thatcher famously said that the “lady was not for turning”, but George Osborne belatedly began an U-turn with a National Infrastructure Programme worth £30bn.

It should not matter whether Tory or Lib Dem Ministers were responsible for this volte-face; these political machinations to an acceptance that improved transport links are key to a wider strategy to put Britain back on the road to recovery.

Two of the key schemes being accelerated, the long-awaited electrification of the Trans-Pennine rail route and the lowering of Humber Bridge tolls, will make a lasting difference to Yorkshire’s economic vibrancy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, while their confirmation is a credit to all those who have lobbied successive governments, they are just two components of the 60 policies that form the core of this newspaper’s Fair Deal For Yorkshire campaign.

And, while announcements ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement appear to have been carefully choreographed, presumably to avoid them being usurped by tomorrow’s public sector strike, George Osborne still has much to prove.

With Britain heading towards a double dip recession, and the Eurozone still the great imponderable, Mr Osborne has to strike a careful balance today.

He has to persist with his deficit reduction strategy in spite of the political pain that this is causing, while ensuring also hat his credit easing plans reach those small businesses that have the potential to expand and looking at innovative new ways to overhaul Britain’s creaking infrastructure.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

That Ministers are entering into agreements with private pension funds and China does bode well, though it is still unclear how the numbers will stack up.

However their opponents will contend that the measures already published fall into the category of “too little, too late”. As such, Mr Osborne’s speech has to prove otherwise in a speech that will go a long way to determining Britain’s ability to withstand another recession, and the country’s future governance after the next election. It should not be judged on the immediate political reaction, but the number of new jobs that will be created as a consequence. That is the most crucial point of all.