Sajid Javid: it’s time to tear up the old investment rules

The next Budget will signal some pretty big changes in the way government spending is distributed, with investment directed towards the parts of the country that have tended to be denied it. The shift in policy was first disclosed by the Prime Minister to James Forsyth and Katy Balls in an interview during the election campaign. The Treasury, he said, judged potential infrastructure projects in a way that always tended to point investment to London and the South East. ‘I take a different view. That this country is so underprovided for in brilliant infrastructure that you can make a good business case for many things.’ A few days later, Sajid Javid elaborated on this argument in an interview with me, only part of which was published in the magazine. Given that a pretty big shift in Tory thinking is under way, I thought I’d share some of the outtakes, for those interested.