Sajid Javid accused of ‘tinkering around edges’ with key infrastructure plans
Over £200m will be earmarked for bus services, including £50m for the UK’s first all-electric bus town
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Your support makes all the difference.Sajid Javid has been accused of “tinkering around the edges” with key infrastructure investment projects, as he prepares to deliver a keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Addressing Tory delegates on Monday, the chancellor will unveil plans for the UK’s first all-electric bus town – one of the first projects to form part of the government’s “infrastructure revolution”.
The investment is part of the Treasury’s already announced £25bn road improvement strategy covering major strategic links in England from 2020 to 2025, and a £5bn package to support the roll-out of broadband.
A further £220m will be earmarked for buses, including £50m for “one or two all-electric bus towns or cities”.
But Labour’s John McDonnell accused his opposite number of using his first speech as Tory chancellor to make a series of “reannoucements and damp squibs”.
The shadow chancellor said the Treasury was “tinkering around the edges” versus Labour’s plans to “kickstart half a trillion of spending and lending to finance a green industrial revolution”.
Addressing delegates at the party’s annual gathering in Manchester, the chancellor is expected to acknowledge that “successive governments” have “failed” to invest enough in infrastructure in the long term.
He will add: “We’ve started to put that right, but we can do more – a lot more. This government is going to build Britain’s future, and bring in a new infrastructure revolution. Infrastructure is the foundation of everything.”
Of the money, £5bn will also be pledged to support the roll-out of broadband, 5G and other gigabit-capable networks to the hardest-to-reach 20 per cent of the country.
Councils will be able to team up with bus companies to create low-fare, high-frequency “superbus” networks, with local authorities investing in bus lanes and in exchange the operator running more services. Cornwall will pilot the first scheme next year.
The government will also set a goal for contactless payments to be made available on every city bus, with some £20m to go on trials of “on-demand” bus services and £30m to improve existing services or replace routes that had been cut.
Commenting on the announcement, the transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “I am delighted that we’re investing in our roads to cut journey times, boost growth and reduce congestion.
“Our new bus strategy will bring modern low-carbon travel to our communities and improve connectivity in our towns, cities and countryside.”
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