Labour’s reversal of the de facto ban on onshore wind is encouraging, but Britain must do more to get building again, writes John Caudwell
One of Labour’s first acts in government was to lift the de facto ban on onshore wind. This change in planning policy means that onshore wind projects no longer need to be included in local development plans, bringing such applications in line with other energy development.
This is an encouraging sign, and shows the new government is committed to tackling the sort of NIMBYism that has held the UK back for too long. It will also help our domestic energy resilience and ensure we play our part in tackling the existential problem of climate change.
It’s a welcome start and indicative that Keir Starmer and his team have the long-term vision to get Britain’s economy growing. It is one of the reasons why I, as a former Conservative donor, backed Labour at this election.
In order to recover from its economic stagnation, Britain needs to get building again and it needs a long-term coherent plan for prosperity based on science and technology. I believe Labour understands the scale of the challenge and will work to address these problems.
But the journey ahead should not be underestimated.
Around the world, we can see the ambition of other countries – as well as how far the UK is falling behind. Of the 55 nuclear reactors under construction in the world, China is building 26. China also accounts for nearly half of the global planned and proposed nuclear reactors, being home to 199 of 435 of these potential projects. Do you know how many reactors the UK has proposed or planned? Just four. That puts the UK behind countries such as Poland and Romania.
We can see this lack of drive in other places too. It has been so long since the UK’s last potable water reservoir was completed in 1992 that at the time, the Internet was not yet widespread and Britain’s population was smaller by 10m people.
Our failure to invest in our future over decades astonishes me.
To get to the heart of this matter, and to help generate ideas to reignite the British economy, I sponsored a study, Caudwell Strong Britain, at the Council on Geostrategy, an independent think tank based in Westminster. The report’s author, Dr Mann Virdee, surveyed over 60 of the UK’s leading scientists, academics and innovators to understand what is holding Britain back. This research made a series of important findings on funding, planning, skills and talent, and procurement.
It is heartening to see that Labour’s plans are targeting exactly the sort of problems that scientists and innovators have identified in this report as holding them and the UK back.
One of the Caudwell Strong Britain recommendations, for example, is that the UK needs to review its discretionary planning system and liberalise planning laws so that Britain can build the research and development infrastructure it so desperately needs. That includes laboratories and data centres as well as broader infrastructure, such as houses and transport links. Lifting the de facto ban on onshore windfarms is exactly the sort of step the UK should be taking.
Also to be welcomed is the work this government is undertaking to align the UK Infrastructure Bank and the British Business Bank under a new National Wealth Fund that will invest in the new industries of the future, such as hydrogen and gigafactories.
If we can expect more of this from Labour, I am cautiously optimistic for the future prosperity of our nation.
John Caudwell is an entrepreneur and founder of Phones 4 U