WHAT THE QUEEN'S SPEECH MEANS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Posted: Monday, July 3rd, 2017 at 10:00am
What the Queen’s speech means for the construction industry
So in terms of stability it’s not been a great year for us Brits - first we left the EU, then Cameron buggered off, then we got May and then despite the fact that all the polls maintained that Corbyn could never ever win, that he could never come close, we basically right now do not have a parliament. So it’s not the greatest of times…
Which is why all eyes were on the Queen during her speech last week as right now she is the one thing that seems to be standing strong. Naturally, her speech covered a number of important topics, but what we at Fix Radio really care about is the implications of her speech on the construction industry and how it will come to affect us in the weeks and months ahead.
Well first and foremost, the government seems pretty serious about cutting net immigration by tens of thousands – which is going to prove pretty tricky when we look to hire our builders and tradesmen. Especially as over the past few years British nationals have simply not been trained in the trades, instead probably going to a met and studying media. The truth is the British economy has come to rely upon EU workers and if those numbers are slashed we may simply not have the numbers required to meet supply.
Oddly though, in the same breath the government seems keen to build more homes as they finally formally recognise that we simply do not have enough. This Housing White Paper could, technically, be implemented as soon as tomorrow, although given our government bureaucracy we may be waiting a while - but where we shall find the staff is anyone’s guess.
In other news, the Queen’s speech also outlined plans to take high-speed rail to the North, which is rather exciting. The high-speed rail Bill includes a commission to operate a new high-speed network between the glamourous locations of Birmingham and Crewe – with phase one due to begin between London and Birmingham next year. And whilst, this isn’t strictly construction related – in other pretty awesome news, the government has committed itself to promoting the creation of driverless cars as well as electric cars. We’re not too fussed about the environment, but we rather like the idea of having a nap whilst we drive our cars.
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