WIREDGOV

Improving the UK’s infrastructure really has to be at the heart of our industrial strategy, if it is to have the desired effect of giving the British economy a shot in the arm.

Commenting on the Transport Select Committee's report on the Airports National Policy Statement, Neil Carberry, CBI Managing Director for Infrastructure and People, said:

“Improving the UK’s infrastructure really has to be at the heart of our industrial strategy, if it is to have the desired effect of giving the British economy a shot in the arm.

“With the new global links that it will bring, and the opportunity to unlock jobs right across the UK, getting on with building the third runway at Heathrow is a vital part of this equation.

“It’s now critical that the National Policy Statement is finalised and approved by Parliament by the summer to allow construction to begin by 2020, and a new runway to be operational before 2030. This will be crucial if we want to set ourselves up for success and be an outward-looking, trading nation, post-Brexit.

“It is important that this project forms part of a long-term aviation framework for the whole of the UK.”