Today I walked down Oxford Street in London. Where I could. The same on Bond Street. When I emerged from Bank underground station the first image was of seven cranes. Four on one site. Crossrail alone has a massive footprint. Or rather, footprints. Many of them.

Regular readers will have heard me bang on about uneven regional and city development within the UK. And, 137 blogs later (yeah!) it is good to see that “regional powerhouses” is now a cross-party term, whatever cynical suspicions one might have.

But even £30 billion over five years and across England will not tip the scales substantially, I suggest. And many of the infrastructure plans are pencilled in with dates starting 202x. Remember that London will be bidding for regional funds too.

To quote the late Barbara Castle MP and Minister for Transport when speaking at a conference: “Comrades, they promise us jam tomorrow. I say, we want jam today!”

Added link on 8 July:
http://www.cityam.com/article/cranes-fill-london-sky-construction-soars