Let's Get Back to What We're Good At
British science and engineering shaped the world. We built the world's first railway, the world's first coal-fired power station, and the world's first commercial nuclear power station.
To get back to what we’re good at – building and inventing things - we need to unlock the potential of every part of the UK.
Over the coming months, we will be talking to people and businesses across the country to hear your ideas and concerns and develop further practical solutions to Britain’s problems.
Unblocking the planning process for clean energy projects
Our energy bills are out of our control because a broken planning process has delayed or blocked the building of new power stations and renewable energy sources. We want Britain to be self-sufficient when it comes to energy, and believe that, by removing the planning bottlenecks which delay energy infrastructure, the UK can shield itself from global price rises, bring down bills, and create decent, well paid, jobs in the process.
The Hornsea 3 windfarm off the coast of Yorkshire is an example of the problems that exist. It will be the biggest offshore wind-farm in the world when finished, providing power for 3.2 million homes. But a marathon 30 month planning process means it won’t be finished until 2027.
We’re proposing several actions that can help fix this, headlined by the shortening of the maximum time for approval for projects like this to 12 months.
Faster, cheaper and better transport
Britons are forced to endure long, unpredictable, congested and expensive commutes if they want to access the best local jobs. We need to build more, but the UK has some of the highest infrastructure costs in the world. The Elizabeth Line took 23 years to build at a cost of £19 billion. By contrast, Madrid built an entire subway network from scratch for just £4 billion in four years.
What’s more, approximately, 66 per cent of people in big European cities can reach their city centre by public transport within 30 minutes, compared to only 40 per cent of the people in Britain’s big cities. This is estimated to cost the UK economy more than £23.1 billion per year.
Too often the developers of these projects try and “reinvent the wheel” instead of following tried and tested methods. We’re proposing several actions to fix this, including ways to easily adopt already used methods of building transport from elsewhere and reducing the amount spent on costly consultants.
Drop the Ban on Onshore Wind
New onshore wind farms are effectively banned in England. Government rules, introduced in 2015, mean just one objection to an onshore wind farm can stop an entire project being built. Because of this ban, only two onshore wind turbines have been built in England since 2020. Meanwhile, the average family is paying £2,500 to keep the lights on and their home warm. Onshore wind is one of the cheapest and cleanest forms of energy available, but instead of creating that energy here, we’re paying sky-high bills and lining Putin’s pockets buying foreign gas. By building new onshore wind farms in England, we can bring down bills, create jobs and stop importing foreign gas.