Hunt urged to invest £30bn a year in infrastructure or risk ‘decade in doldrums’

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has a window of opportunity to increase investment so that the UK’s productivity growth returns, the NIESR says. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Jeremy Hunt risks condemning Britain to a decade in the doldrums unless he uses this month’s autumn statement to announce a £30bn-a-year investment plan to upgrade public infrastructure, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the chancellor should ignore calls by Tory MPs for pre-election tax cuts and instead focus on measures to boost growth through improvements to transport, digital networks, skills and housing.