Britain Remade

Hinkley Point C might be delayed again. Why? Because Natural England say the £700 million spent on fish protection at Britain's next nuclear power station is not enough. We can't go on like this.

"If Burnham wants to prove his commitment to ‘good growth’ and business, he should tell Lord Khan: if you won’t plan for London to meet its housing target, I will."

New from me: Sadiq Khan's new London Plan draft is disgraceful. There is a cross-party consensus that London needs to build far more homes, yet Khan's draft plans to miss the capital's annual housing target by 30,000 homes. cityam.com/sadiq-khans-lo…

'we have become exceptionally slow at everything' At our recent event, Sam Richards from @BritainRemade argued that the UK was slowing down - just as the world was speeding up ⬇️ buff.ly/j33INdr

In under a week, Andy Burnham will be PM. He will want to do things differently, but his predecessors didn't get everything wrong. Here are four pro-growth reforms that should outlive Starmer and Reeves: 1. Open the train belt for development (and allow granny flats) 2. Implement the Fingleton Review (in full) 3. Use the power of Parliament to stop vital infrastructure from being challenged in the courts 4. Devolve the Transport and Works Act Order process to Mayors so cities can plan and build trams without special permission from Whitehall. samdumitriu.com/p/what-burnham…

'we have become exceptionally slow at everything' At our recent event yesterday, Sam Richards from @BritainRemade argued that the UK was slowing down just as the world was speeding up. Catch up on what this means for young people ⬇️ buff.ly/j33INdr

One stat where England is getting nowhere near Norway. We spent more on the planning application for the Lower Thames Crossing alone than it cost Norway to actually build the world's longest road tunnel, the Lærdal Tunnel.

Britain needs home air con to deal with hotter temperatures, we have an electricity grid that's never been cleaner to power it. A perfect match? Two familiar problems stand in the way - Planning permission - High energy costs @sjarichards tells @BBCRadio4.

USA vs. UK Watch until the end for the really big difference...

Is air con banned in Britain?

People who say air con isn't banned are technically correct. But is that the best kind of correct? Read more from @Michael_J_Hil on the air con ban debate here: catchingmice.substack.com/cp/203711274

(3/5) The gaps are driven by differences in the costs & delays businesses face across a project’s timeline, from building a plant to producing and selling products. @Sam_Dumitriu @BritainRemade has plenty on how building red-tape has held back UK industry & energy development

Last chance to sign up for today's briefing at midday. Why does it cost more to build in Britain? And what can we do about it? britainremade.co.uk/more_for_less_…

Book your free place now for Friday lunchtime 👇

Andy Burnham's speech yesterday was very clear that lots of power should be taken from Whitehall and given to regional Mayors. Good. We are an absurdly centralised country. But there wasn't much detail on which powers should be shifted or what Mayors should do with those powers. He should start with transport powers, especially over rail. Most mayors are desperate for power to control local services, but Whitehall does not want to give it to them. Reforms to the Transport and Works Act and new legislation to allow Land Value Capture could give Mayors the power to start major infrastructure schemes without needing constant approvals from Whitehall. He should also recognise some Mayors are secretly quite happy being the Treasury's regional grant manager. They get enough money to start some schemes they can talk about at election time, but aren't responsible for raising taxes and can just blame Whitehall when the money runs out. Ultimately though, whoever pays the piper calls the tune. If London pays your bills, London is going to demand lots of paperwork to explain what you spent it on. Burnham should give Mayors real fiscal responsibility. That would allow places that, like Manchester, have gone for growth to keep the benefits and those that chose stagnation to suffer the consequences. Burnham should also be proactive about promoting the policies that actually worked in Manchester. The most famous Crossrail might be in London, but Manchester did it first with the Altrincham to Bury tram line. He should also be very proud of Manchester City Centre. The policy foundations were laid by others. But it was under Burnham's watch that most of those skyscrapers appeared. Most places can't copy this exactly, but building homes in city centres is the only way to save our high streets. Read the full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/samdumitri…

As the debate over which countries are richer rages on, one thing making Britain poorer is overpaying for infrastructure. On Friday at 12pm you can hear from @Sam_Dumitriu and @pdmsero about why we spend £1.65 for every £1 spent by our European peers. britainremade.co.uk/more_for_less_…

New YIMBY Pod! - Ft @Michael_J_Hil from @BritainRemade on 'Manchesterism' and Manchester's theory of growth. - And @mjrobbins and I talk about three cool new energy storage projects that use gravity and compressed air! abundancepod.com/p/the-manchest…

'we have become exceptionally slow at everything' At our event yesterday, Sam Richards from @BritainRemade argued that the UK was slowing down just as the world was speeding up. Catch up on what this means for young people ⬇️ buff.ly/9iulLBl