Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, Sir John Armitt, last week warned politicians that “feet will be held to the fire” when the commission writes to the Chancellor “to be explicit about the tests the strategy will need to meet if it is to be credible.”
Armitt (pictured) said the government could not “fudge it,” or provide a list of what it was already doing.”
Speaking to a cross-party group of MPs,
Armitt challenged the government to resist the “gusts and eddies of political uncertainty” currently blowing major, long-term infrastructure planning off course. He told the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure panel discussion that the right infrastructure was vital to “shape a new national and global identity. One based on optimism and confidence”, adding: “The government must send a clear signal that it is serious about giving the UK the world-class infrastructure the economy will need up to 2050.”
He called for, “bravery in making the tough decisions about major infrastructure projects, that will improve national life for all.”