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Transport and the Economy

Absolutely. Tourism is also a key element in York's local economy and the congestion is having an impact on the tourism level in the city. Sadly, my local authority in York would rather tinker with small-scale schemes than take the difficult long-term decisions that will safeguard the city's economic future. As I mentioned at the outset, we need a fearless transport strategy. We need a long-term approach to investment at a national level and implementation locally. The Government's £3 billion of capital for local road projects outside London, to be spread over the next four years, is therefore a welcome starting point, but is that sum part of a long-term strategy for our roads? The crux of road investment is long-term, joined-up thinking. I shall now discuss another form of transport. We have to tackle aviation issues seriously, and we face two problems. Airport capacity in and around London is at breaking point. We should be enormously proud that our capital city has remained resilient over a number of years, maintaining its position as the best place in the world to do business. Although international politics and powers have changed, London has remained at the top table, with a positive knock-on effect for the rest of the UK. However, if we refuse to expand our capacity, we risk throwing away our the capital's crown and, again, our economy, both nationally and locally, will suffer.