23 January 2025, 13:46 | Updated: 23 January 2025, 14:20

By Carum Basra

The Prime Minister's announcement today to limit legal challenges to major infrastructure projects reveals a concerning misdiagnosis of what really holds back sustainable development in the UK.

The real crisis isn't "blockers" in the planning system - it's the systematic decimation of our planning departments' capacity to make good decisions.

Even more worrying is the Chancellor's rhetoric.

Rachel Reeves' call for regulators to "tear down regulatory barriers" and her claim that "the balance has moved too far on regulating risk" shows how deeply deregulatory thinking has penetrated Labour's approach.

The government's proposal to replace proper environmental scrutiny with a national "nature restoration fund" - allowing developers to simply pay to offset damage rather than prevent it - is just the latest example of this misguided thinking.

This isn't just wrong - it fundamentally misunderstands what good regulation does.

Research reveals the stark reality: only........

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