High Speed 2

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 23 June 2011.

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Photo of Philip Hammond Philip Hammond The Secretary of State for Transport 10:30, 23 June 2011

Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes the point very clearly. I believe that it is not possible for Britain to maintain its prosperity in the 21st century in an increasingly competitive global economy unless we can close the growth gap between north and south. Governments for the past 50 or 60 years have wrestled with this challenge and we have not succeeded yet. This approach of investing in strategic infrastructure is the last best chance to achieve that.