Lord Heseltine blasts government's growth strategy

Appointing Lord Heseltine to lead a review of the government’s growth plan was a risky decision as not only was he always going to say exactly what he thought, but he was also going to say it from his own particular interventionist stance. It was originally a Steve Hilton idea, and the PM’s guru must be enjoying reading what Heseltine has to say from the comfortable distance of a sabbatical in California. The report, No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth, is as honest as ministers might have expected, pointing out that business believe that ‘the UK does not have a strategy for growth and wealth creation’, criticising an ‘inertia’ over airport policy, and warning that ‘continuing as now is not an acceptable option. The world will not stand still – and nor must we’. He criticises a lack-of joined up thinking, saying:

‘Whitehall continues to approach these issues from the individual policy priorities of different departments as if economic issues can be effectively addressed in a placeless vacuum.’