U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued another initiative (following his call for an FDR-style “New Deal” a few weeks ago) to escalate investments into basic infrastructure. The Sunday Telegraph reported today (as reported in the Daily Mail) that “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak [Chancellor of the Exchequer] are to launch a Silicon Valley-inspired venture capitalist spending spree on roads, infrastructure and energy. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay is expected to announce plans to ditch the Treasury’s cautious approach to spending and adopt bold practices from U.S. firms.” They add that this would focus on “innovative” projects which would “rapidly fulfill Downing Street promises on roads, infrastructure and energy.”
The report states that Barclay and Sunak had co-founded an investment firm in Silicon Valley, and intend to use “project management processes used by technology companies in the U.S.” Barclay, a former Barclays executive (but not in the family), will reportedly promise to shape the Treasury into “the department that marshals together people, ideas and best practice, from inside and outside government to make things happen,” and will comport with Johnson’s idea of “Project Speed,” a plan to fast track infrastructure development. Barclay is said to have asked: “If the wheels of government can be made to spin this fast in a crisis with all the added pressures of lockdown, why can’t it happen normally?”
