Osborne Pledges U.K. Infrastructure Focus in Spending Review

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne promised to make infrastructure improvements a focus of next month’s fiscal review by committing to 100 billion pounds ($153 billion) of spending on new roads, rail transportation and flood defenses by 2020.

The chancellor will set out his pledges at an event in York, northern England, on Friday to mark the establishment of the National Infrastructure Commission. The funding will include 15 billion pounds for roads, and the Treasury will identify a number of state assets to be sold to fund new projects, it said in a statement. Osborne will announce further details to Parliament in his spending review on Nov. 25.

Osborne scored a political coup over the Labour opposition earlier this month by appointing Andrew Adonis — a former transport secretary and one of the party’s most prominent figures — to head the commission. The panel will identify the U.K.’s building and transport needs and hold the government to account if it fails to deliver. It also cements Osborne’s commitment to projects such as the high-speed rail link from London to the north, which has caused some friction within his Conservative Party.

Bloomberg

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