Majority back higher borrowing for better infrastructure, says poll

A majority of the British public will back extra government spending on road, rail and housing to improve the country’s infrastructure, according to an exclusive poll for the Guardian that indicates strong support for Philip Hammond to boost public investment in next month’s autumn statement.

Almost two-thirds of Britons agree the country is not doing enough to meet its infrastructure needs and 76% believe investment in infrastructure is vital to future economic growth.

The survey also found that 44% backed higher government borrowing to fund fresh investment, with only 16% opposed and 40% unsure either way.

The poll comes amid growing concerns from business groups that the government is moving too slowly in developing an industrial strategy under new business secretary Greg Clark.

The EEF, which represents manufacturing employers, said ministers needed to “speed up plans to introduce a consistent and coherent long-term industrial strategy” to overcome the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and Britain’s trading relationship with Europe.

It said “swift implementation” was vital to prevent the economy from stagnating as “the UK steers its tricky way towards Brexit”.

The chancellor has publicly wavered over how much to increase government spending on infrastructure projects. In the aftermath of the referendum he promised to tear up his predecessor’s budget and back proposals from Number 10 to develop an industrial strategy before denying he was planning a “spending splurge”.

He is under pressure to widen the scope of the government’s support for infrastructure improvements following a series of forecasts that predict the economy will slow next year.

Official figures this week are expected to show the rate of growth has already halved and could worsen further in the run-up to Christmas and next year as higher import prices from the falling pound eat into household spending power.

Terry Scuoler, head of the EEF, said: “It is not enough to talk about an industrial strategy – it is time for the government to draw a line under the stop-go efforts of the past and to demonstrate its commitment.”

The Ipsos Mori poll is the first to ask the British public their attitude to infrastructure in a way that is comparable with the firm’s surveys in other countries. It found that support is substantially higher in Britain for government-backed improvements than the global and G8 averages, where support was 34% and 31% respectively.

Twice as many people in the UK are comfortable with the idea of foreign investment in new infrastructure as are not, with 42% in favour and 20% against, if it means that projects can be delivered more quickly, making Britons more comfortable with foreign investment than the 37% average across the G8.

Shown a list of the different types of projects, almost half of the 1,000 people interviewed online nominated new housing as a top priority while 45% chose flood defences and 44% rail infrastructure.

Ben Marshall, a research director at Ipsos Mori, said the survey showed “instinctive backing” for the government’s emerging approach to infrastructure after it found more people back borrowing to fund projects than don’t.

“Government action is likely to be most welcomed in terms of housing and rail but also flood defence and local roads. We also know, though, that support for infrastructure is very conditional; people want to be convinced that projects will lead to benefits,” he said.

“They are also pretty pragmatic. Provided it accelerates progress, more are comfortable with foreign investment than are not. There is, though, a clear demand for adequate involvement of local communities,” he added.