Can we afford to build back better, faster and greener post-Covid?
What seems like an age ago, the Conservatives swept to victory with a stonking majority on a wave of Red Wall seats turning blue, backed by the promise to level up the country. Less than a year on, questions are being asked about whether those promises — like reopening rail lines closed by Dr Beeching — are affordable when Covid-19 has forced public borrowing through the roof. The answers lie in prioritising investments on the basis of how well they level up Britain, and in cutting red tape and enabling private financing to deliver more for less. That way we can stimulate the jobs and post-Brexit growth which will power our recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.
