The Right should be unashamed of the fact that it wants to make Britain boom again: to create good jobs, to enrich people and the places they live, and to give them the freedom and opportunity to lead better lives.
Informed by the principles we have identified — the importance of productivity growth, agglomeration effects, intangible capital and Britain’s persistently low levels of investment — the policies we set out below are a plan for creating prosperity in the UK.
They allow our cities and towns to prosper, by reforming planning laws that are becoming increasingly costly and inappropriate in a way that existing residents will support, by investing cost-effectively in the infrastructure necessary for growth, and by making it easier for people to afford housing where they want to live near the jobs they want.
And they create a better climate for enterprise and innovation, by reforming the tax system to encourage private investment, by co-investing cleverly in public goods like science and technology that are becoming increasingly important, and by making markets work better by reforming regulation and the telecoms network.
Our proposed agenda is not comprehensive. It leaves out lots of areas of policy that will have an important influence on economic growth in the long run, like education or environment policy. Instead it focuses on the problems facing us now, and the solutions that will deliver their first results within the space of a single Parliament, and make us better off within ten years.
The four areas we would prioritise are:
Housing
Tax
Infrastructure and Devolution
Technology and Innovation