'We've looked at over 300 transport infrastructure projects, and the results for Britain aren't great'

My remarks to the Transport Committee today on the costs of building new transport infrastructure in the UK.

South Korea builds the cheapest nuclear power plants in the world. KEPCO can build 6 of their APR-1400 plants for the same cost that we’re currently paying for Hinkley Point C. This is exciting news for Britain’s nuclear future.

Recently, Sam Dumitriu and Ben Hopkinson looked at a big list of infrastructure projects, suggesting high costs were the reason the UK delivers so little, so slowly...

This week's #RailNatter explains why they've missed the mark.

Weds/7pm: youtube.com/watch?v=QU1euu…

The possibility of South Korea building a nuclear plant at Anglesey is exciting because they build so cheaply. But Britain has to let them get on with it, instead of throwing regulatory and planning hurdles that raise cost and slow building down.

Great piece by Sam Dumitriu

👶🏻 A New Year’s Surprise…

Meet the newest Welling United FC fan: Ivy Rose Hopkinson
Born 16:49, Saturday 30th December 2023

Hinkley Point C is the most expensive nuclear plant built this century!

It's faced planning and regulatory hurdles, financing challenges, a depleted skills base, and 7,000 design tweaks to satisfy the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

2⃣Use Great British Nuclear to provide the strategic direction to implement a full fleet.

Companies can then plan investments in skills/equipment and encourage workers to train in the highly specific trades needed. Plus we'll learn lessons on how to build cheaper & faster.

This would allow the Korean designed APR-1400 to be built in Britain as America approved the design in 2019.

South Korea can build 6 of these for the same price we're building Hinkley Point C

One final plug for tonight’s fun at The Waiting Room. Antique film projected with live music from Ben Hopkinson and all with a haunted twist - thewaitingroom.uk/events/super-s…

Cutting public spending in the run-up to an election probably isn't politically expedient but it is morally and economically necessary because, frankly, we're about to fall off a cliff

Great to join John Glen MP @mattlynwriter Ben Hopkinson John O'Connell for TaxPayers' Alliance panel

If you want an example of a successful New Town, look at Edinburgh’s, a beautiful, walkable city extension.

Labour should prioritise urban regeneration and extension where people want to live, not building new towns far from anything.
My latest City A.M. cityam.com/labours-new-to…

There's 2,095 hectares of industrial land within walking distance of tube/rail stations where building new housing is banned. That's 15 Hyde Parks worth of land!

The Mayor needs to de-designate this land in the London Plan and get building the homes Londoners need!

One insight from Britain Remade's work over the last 18 months has been the strength of support for nuclear in the areas that have a nuclear heritage.

Ben Hopkinson and I have looked into why this matters, and how we can speed up deployment of new nuclear to take advantage

Ben Hopkinson In other news, ICAO passed a resolution commending Cornwall Council for its selfless concern for aviation.

Ben Hopkinson Transport Committee

Monday = London Review of Substacks!

Check out thoughtful pieces by Ian Leslie, Jeremy Driver, @ben_a_hopkinson, and Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦 in Semafor's daily global newsletter: semafor.com/newsletter/04/…

The new Fabian Society - Local Government and Housing Homes for London report includes a lot of great ideas to help alleviate London's housing crisis.
Happy that Jeremy Driver and I were able to add thoughts on estate renewal, building in the best connected areas, and using London's land better conciliocomms.com/stories/homes-…

Alec Stapp Sam Dumitriu Ben Hopkinson Difference couldn’t be more stark:

UK is descending to developing country levels of electricity supply.

Ben Hopkinson This is the problem. The government has to make building nuclear in the UK less difficult or it won't matter.