One of the few bright spots in Rachel Reeves’s bleak spring statement was the economic boost the forecasters expect to result from the government’s planning reforms.
Reeves was so delighted to be able to announce some upbeat news, she pinched a phrase from Gordon Brown, calling the resulting extra £3.4bn for public services, “the proceeds of growth”.
Of course, the £3.4bn is imaginary: it’s the Office for Budget Responsibility’s best estimate of the benefits to the exchequer of the slightly larger economy (by 0.2%) it reckons will follow from all that extra housebuilding.
And there is no guarantee of success, for an approach that relies on rewriting regulation from the centre, and exhorting for the private sector to deliver.
But the OBR’s verdict will have real political impact: not ju...
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