PM’s £1bn pledge to boost UK economy
David Cameron has promised an “all-out mission” to kick-start major infrastructure projects and get the economy moving.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will also announce that 35,000 jobs will be created, using nearly £1bn of public money.
The government is expected to unveil investment in more than 100 projects, including six “shovel-ready” projects, that it hopes will spark billions of pounds of extra investment from private enterprise.
The prime minister has said he has given the go-ahead for two power plants in the north of England that will create 1,000 construction jobs.
Officials at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills are said to have tried to focus the money, from the Regional Growth fund, on small companies and the manufacturing supply chain as much as possible.
The global economy is presenting us with opportunities, not threats David Cameron
Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Cameron also admitted that the eurozone crisis was having a “chilling effect” on global growth and he warned there were “no short-cuts to success”.
But he urged people to be optimistic, warning that pessimism and fear “can become self-fulfilling prophecies”.
“The eurozone crisis has had a chilling effect on major economies around the world, and has added to the unprecedented pressures facing the global economy,” the prime minister wrote.
“But, in spite of the difficulties, I am confident that we can both resolve the crises at hand and come through them with an economy that is stronger and fundamentally fairer.”
Not a ‘significant plan’
Chuka Umunna MP, Labour’s shadow business secretary, branded the prime minister “out of touch”.
He added: “Power stations already in the pipeline are finally being given the green light, but no investment is actually being brought forward.
“And the long-delayed funding for projects through the regional growth fund is actually a two-thirds cut on what went before.
“This does not amount to the significant plan for jobs and growth Britain’s economy desperately needs right now.”
However, Mr Cameron maintained: “I passionately believe that the global economy is presenting us with opportunities, not threats, and we must seize them.”
