Polling finds 52% of Gen Z thought UK would be better place if ‘strong leader did not have to bother with parliament and elections’
When Rachel Reeves gives a heavily trailed speech on growth on Wednesday, she is due to back plans for a third runway at Heathrow – a proposal that various governments have been floating for at least 20 years.
According to the Financial Times, as part of its growth strategy the government is reviving another plan from the past; it wants to develop the “Oxford-Cambridge Arc” as an area for high-productivity development.
Science secretary Peter Kyle on Monday said the government wanted to double the economic output of the science-rich region that stretches between Britain’s two best-known universities, with the manufacturing and logistics hub of Milton Keynes in between.
“The Oxford-Cambridge Arc is already an engine of prosperity, but we can go even further. We are determined to unleash research and development as a driving force in our mission to grow the economy in every corner of the country,” he said.
The upcoming increase to national insurance contributions has prompted firms to assess their budgets urgently, the CBI said.
Output across the private sector is expected to drop over the next three months, having fallen over the previous three-month period, the survey found.