Andy Burnham has been sworn in as Britain’s new Prime Minister – the fifth in less than four years – but how will his agenda shape the world of technology and engineering?
HS2HS2 has been beset by a string of failures and budget overruns over the last decade, including the cancellation of routes ending in Leeds and Manchester by the previous Conservative government.
During his tenure as mayor for Greater Manchester, Burnham has long called for more investment into the North of England and for local infrastructure improvements. In an interview with the i last month, he said he wanted to reinstate the northern leg of HS2. That is estimated to cost around £36bn, but Burnham believes the impact on the Treasury’s coffers could be minimised by capturing the soaring value of land around new stations.
“You don’t take all the windfall off the landholder, but you share the proceeds of that windfall, and the increase in land values created by the infrastructure is captured to pay back the cost of...