U.K. Chancellor backs third Heathrow runway, cuts regulation in a bid for growth

Following months of poor economic growth numbers and depressed business sentiment following a tax hike announced in her October budget, U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves signalled on Wednesday that Britain was not destined to decline, as she announced a slew of projects and regulatory changes. Among the plans Ms. Reeves laid out was the creation of a “growth corridor” between Oxford and Cambridge, which, as per the Chancellor, had the potential to become Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’. Ms. Reeves said on Wednesday that her government would build on the the U.K.-U.S. “special relationship” with the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump. Ms. Reeves confirmed that Trade and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds would visit New Delhi in February 2025 to restart talks for a Free Trade Agreement, which has been under negotiation since January 2022. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, previewing the announcements in an article in The Times on Tuesday, said his government would “clear out the regulatory weeds”, likening this to former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation policies.