Helm Talks - energy climate infrastructure & more9 Joulu 2025

Five reasons why growth is so elusive

Why is it that this government, and its predecessors, find economic growth so hard to attain? In the UK, growth remains stubbornly low for a number of reasons, and these are not the ones that the government is currently blaming. First, governments avoid hard choices and spread resources too thinly. As Tony Blair said to me many years ago, politicians prefer to have "and" over "or" – in his case, nuclear and renewables. Political instinct favours doing “everything” to please all parts of politicians’ constituencies, but this dilutes investment and prevents large-scale, coordinated programmes. Instead of comprehensive strategies like those seen in China or France, the UK pursues piecemeal, case-by-case projects, resulting in high costs and inefficiencies, such as probably the most expensive nuclear plants in the world (at c. £12 billion per gigawatt). Without focused, long-term infrastructure programmes, growth cannot accelerate. Beyond this, structural issues compound the problem. Western economies, especially the UK, prioritise consumption over production, rely heavily on welfare spending, and maintain incentive systems that discourage work. High taxes and borrowing further stifle growth, while domestic savings – critical for funding investment – are minimal. Unlike post-war economic miracles in Germany, Japan and China, driven by savings and production, the UK depends on foreign capital and supply chains, leaving its economy vulnerable. A fundamental shift towards production, supported by domestic savings and programme-driven investment, is a prerequisite for sustainable growth.

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Jaksot(90)

Why can't we build infrastructure in this country?

Politicians have been seeking for decades to put right the infrastructure crisis in this country that is rooted not in a lack of ambition, but in deeper economic and political constraints. Building in...

15 Kesä 15min

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The International Energy Agency describes the current Iran conflict as the “biggest energy crisis in history”. While oil prices have risen sharply, they remain below the real highs of past shocks. How...

27 Touko 14min

Britain's negative-sum society

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17 Touko 14min

No such thing as free electricity

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24 Huhti 11min

Sticky plaster energy policy is falling apart

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20 Huhti 15min

Gas prices, gas mistakes and gas policy

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24 Maalis 13min

Britain's industrial energy price crisis

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17 Maalis 15min

The energy security gap

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24 Helmi 15min