We can build more and faster

3 min read06 July

Getting Britain to build again isn't just an economic duty, it's a moral one.

Britain used to build. Our country laid railways, raised cities, and carved out ports that powered the world. We built the first underground trains. We built new towns, bridges, and power stations. All things that made people’s lives better. But in 21st-century Britain, we’ve been arguing over laying a single stretch of tarmac for 16 years.

The long drift toward this position has been quiet but steady. Well-intentioned rules and regulations were layered on top of each other. Timelines stretched. Permissions multiplied. Infrastructure projects are now a target for challenge, delay, and veto, not just for those who stand to lose out, but for those with no stake at all. We now have a system where doing nothing is safer than doing something, and where process has eclipsed purpose.

This is not sustainable. It is not fair. And it is not how you rebuild a country.

Building a third runway at Heathrow is one case, perhaps the clearest case, of this problem in action. A growing economy needs growing infrastructure. More flights departing from and arriving at our biggest airport are good for our economy and a good thing for working people. Even those opposed to Heathrow expansion should reckon with the choice before us. Years of dithering and delay, or a decisive choice made as quickly as possible. It is only the latter that gives people certainty and clarity.

But this isn’t just about aviation. It’s about whether the British state can still make decisions and carry them through.

We all pay the price when the state avoids hard calls. In high rents, slow commutes, unaffordable energy, and missed opportunities. Communities see wealth, growth, and jobs lost, not in theory, but in practice because projects that could change this country for the better never make it off a page.

We’ve created a system where getting approval for a mile of track or tarmac could take over half a decade. Where ambition shrinks to fit the size of the bureaucracy. And where previous Conservative governments seemed unable to say: “This is in the national interest and we’re going to make it happen.”

This government is working to change this and is focused on getting major infrastructure projects approved. And we must keep pressing on. A stronger, more confident state is not anti-democratic – in fact, it is the route to making sure that the government brings back the belief that things can be better.

A new report out today (Monday, 7 July) by Labour Together and the Centre for British Progress offers one concrete example of how the state could act differently. It makes the case for cutting through delay, changing the process, and making a clear and rapid decision on Heathrow via fast-track legislation. You don’t have to agree with every detail to see the broader point: we must build more, and we must do it faster. And crucially, we can. Not recklessly. Not carelessly. But with urgency, confidence, and purpose.

There is a moral case for building. A fairer economy, with better jobs and more secure lives, depends on it. And in the face of growing global challenges, from energy security to climate change, we cannot afford to keep saying “no” by default. The cost of inaction is already being paid.

If we want a future that works for everyday people, we have to build it. Literally. That starts by fixing the system that stops us.

Dan Tomlinson is the Labour MP for Chipping Barnet.