The UK must stop saying the ‘N-word’ to infrastructure projects or it will be the death of our economy – and Sadiq Khan’s pedestrianisation of Oxford Street has made it obvious
The “N-word” is killing the UK economy and Sadiq Khan’s new changes have made it obvious. The idea of building infrastructure in the UK is a headache and one of this country’s largest national embarrassments.
From housing to HS2 it feels like it is impossible for any large scale projects to get off the ground in a costly or timely manner. And even when us Brits decide a new project is necessary it is often hammered by endless consulting, paperwork and the complex planning application.
The issue is that the UK must stop saying the “no” to so many of these infrastructure projects which could help drive growth, create jobs and build the Britain of the future.
Whether you love him, hate him or loathe him, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has made this obvious with his pedestrianisation of Oxford street. The beloved British shopping destination has experienced an economic boom after Khan kicked out the cars.
While many online would have you believe Khan’s changes would turn the shopping locale to a desolate wasteland which is devoid of life, figures from Adyen show spending at Oxford Street stores rose by 28% in comparison to last year.
The numbers obviously factors in the increased spending from the Christmas booms from both this year and last year. Spending at Oxford Street stores rose from £2.9m last year to £3.7m this year in a pretty hefty increase.
When you look at cases like this it becomes obvious that sometimes as a country we need to ignore the noise and just start building projects in our communities to help the economy and boost growth.
As a country we must start saying “yes” to more ambitious infrastructure projects for the public – as a nation we can’t afford to stand still while everyone’s living standards go down the gutter. Playing political ping-pong with projects that will actually provide positive effects on Brits doesn’t serve anyone.
And sometimes politicians and local councillors need to have cojones to tell “Nimbys” to get out the way so Britain can get building again.
Huang’d off
Huang Nvidia, Nvidia CEO, who has found himself in hot water this week after news broke that he had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy once said something incredibly profound about the UK’s “growth culture”. Or lack thereof.
While many might be a little sceptical when it comes to taking his advice, Nvidia is one of the world’s most valuable companies at a staggering valuation of around $4.7 trillion. So even if you’re cautious about listening to the billionaire tech, due to his recent cheating scandal, the guy definitely knows a thing or two about business.
And let’s be honest the man is successful enough to have alleged Chinese spies trying to steal insider secrets from him – that’s not something many people can speak of. Earlier this year Huang told Brits our culture is too obsessed with failing.
Speaking to UK entrepreneurs the tech boss said: “If there was a million ways to win, you find the one reason not to do it. There’s something that’s missing here.” He added: “I think the entrepreneurial spirit.”
Diagnosing the UK the Nvidia CEO said: “If you tell an entrepreneur there’s one in a million chance they can succeed, that entrepreneur says, ‘So you’re telling me there’s a chance?’ But in the UK, somehow, there’s 999,000 reasons to fail.
“So I think what you want to look for if you want to change the culture, if you want to change into a growth-oriented culture, you want to look for the one reason to succeed and make it so.”
Personally I don’t think this issue is just confined to our entrepreneurs but it is also obvious when it comes to our ability to make and build things as a country.
This “culture” has also hit our local authorities, our councillors and politicians.
Our planning application system shackled in red tape and dragged further down by noisy “Nimby’s” only makes matters worse.
As Brits we must stop saying “No”. We are never going to build the Britain of tomorrow if we are too shy to put shovels in the ground today.