Planning decisions on major projects will be accelerated, Sir Keir Starmer has promised as he vowed to take on “blockers and bureaucrats” who stand in the way of construction.
The Prime Minister confirmed Labour’s pre-election target of building 1.5 million homes in England over the course of this Parliament and set out a new pledge of fast-tracking decisions on 150 infrastructure projects.
He said he would face down nimbys and an “alliance of naysayers” to drive through his planning changes, insisting he would end the “nonsense” of red tape holding up major projects.
Sir Keir said the planning system was “a chokehold on the growth our country needs”, preventing the construction of “roads, grid connections, laboratories, train lines, warehouses, wind farms, power stations”.
He highlighted a £100 million structure built as part of the HS2 project to protect bats as an example of the “absurd” planning system.
Sir Keir said the commitment on 150 schemes would “triple the number of decisions on national infrastructure” compared with the last parliament.
In a speech at Pinewood Studios to launch his “plan for change”, he said: “We haven’t built a reservoir for over 30 years and even the projects we do approve are fought tooth and nail, nail and tooth, until you end up with the absurd spectacle of a £100 million bat tunnel holding up the country’s single biggest infrastructure project.
“Driving up taxes and the cost of living beyond belief.
“I tell you now this Government will not accept this nonsense anymore.”
The Prime Minister said the commitment would “send a very clear message to the nimbys, the regulators, the blockers, the bureaucrats, the alliance of naysayers, the people who say ‘No, Britain can’t do this, we can’t get things done in our country’”.
He added: “We say to them: ‘You no longer have the upper hand, Britain says yes’.
We will grow the economy to raise living standards and put more money back in working people’s pockets.
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) December 5, 2024
“Because whether you like it or not, we are building a future for working people, making our country strong with stability, investment and reform.
“And we’re building it with urgency, because there is no time to lose.”
But Kristian Miemietz, of free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said “we will believe it when we see it”.
He said: “Such announcements have become the political equivalent of the new year’s resolution to stop smoking, go to the gym, and become fluent in French.
“Recognising that these things are desirable is the easy part.
“The challenge to prevent another false dawn is to stick to them in the face of adversity.”
Sam Richards, chief executive of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said: “A major first step would be approving the projects that are currently sat on ministers’ desks.
“At its current rate of approving major projects, the Government is on track to give the green light to just 72 projects by the end of the Parliament.
“Without tackling how judicial review works, the never-ending rounds of consultation and reforming environmental impact assessments, it is hard to see this ambitious target being achieved.”
