Britain’s Labour government has declared war on NIMBYs
The battle is likely to define its success
Stand on the bridge where Iver lane crosses the M25 and look north. Eight lanes of traffic hurtle along London’s orbital motorway beneath you. Shift your gaze east of the roaring stream, between the motorway barriers and an industrial estate, and you will see a former landfill site that happens to sit in the green belt (protected land that surrounds many English cities).
In 2022 Buckinghamshire council blocked a proposed data centre here, saying it would harm “the ecological value of the site”. Last year the Tory government threw out an appeal, in part because the site would have been visible “above the vegetation along the motorway”. A smaller scheme was nixed by the council in June.
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What does Labour’s win mean for British foreign policy?
Continuity on NATO and Ukraine, and hopes for a reset with Europe
How did pollsters do in predicting the British election?
The biggest miss since 1992
What does Labour’s win mean for British foreign policy?
Continuity on NATO and Ukraine, and hopes for a reset with Europe
How did pollsters do in predicting the British election?
The biggest miss since 1992
How shallow was Labour’s victory in the British election?
The British party system may be fragmenting but voters delivered a coherent message
Labour’s victory is good for Britain’s union of four countries
It is not clear how long that will last
Labour’s landslide victory will turn politics on its head
But even with a majority this big, running bad-tempered Britain will not be easy