Take a leaf out of Dubai's book, or the rest of the world will leave UK for dust

Rocketing costs of air transport and an ever-increasing projected price tag on the project meant the Maplin Sands scheme was soon consigned to history.

Had the project gone ahead, of course, the current debate over whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick would not be happening. A third option, still favoured by London Mayor Boris Johnson, namely to build an entirely new airport on the Isle of Grain, would also be redundant.

Maplin Sands remains one of life’s “what if” questions. However, what is less speculative is that Britain, by endlessly reviewing plans on where to build the country’s next runway, risks handing the initiative to international competitors in the race to capture more of the world’s growing tourism market.

This point is well made by Gerald Lawless, chief executive of Dubai’s Jumeirah Group, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph today. Mr Lawless has seen the Gulf sheikhdom grow from its early days as an expat-friendly trading outpost in the Middle East into a global metropolis. Part of this success has come from the willingness of its government to act promptly and make swift decisions when putting a world-class infrastructure in place while countries such as Britain face a more complex planning process involving numerous conditions – the relocation of wildlife just one example.

Under such circumstances it remains unlikely that ambitious plans such as Maplin Sands, or “Boris Island”, its descendant, will ever become a reality in a way that could place Britain in a position of global leadership in terms of transport infrastructure.

By comparison, Dubai is pressing ahead with the $32bn (£19.6bn) expansion of its second major international airport in the desert separating the emirate with Abu Dhabi as it pushes towards its target of 100m passengers by 2020 and 20m visitors in the same year.

It is, therefore, easy to understand the perspective of Mr Lawless when he says that Britain needs to build new runways at both Gatwick and Heathrow to keep up in the race for global airport capacity.

Miliband’s minium wage idea will hurt economy

Scotland's referendum result proves that business still has a powerful voice in politics. The country’s biggest companies and most influential business leaders were pretty much unanimous in their opposition to Scotland breaking away from the Union and their concerns were clearly heard by voters at a time when most remained disillusioned by politicians in Westminster.

Alienating business and failing to address the fears of large corporations over critical questions concerning currency, taxation and the economy was probably the biggest single mistake made by Alex Salmond, the canny nationalist leader, in the months leading up to the historic vote.

It was arguably the voices coming from the nation’s boardrooms that warned consistently and clearly on the profound economic risks facing the Scottish people in the final days before the vote which played a decisive part in keeping Great Britain together.

It is, therefore, bewildering to see Labour Party leader Ed Miliband now targeting businesses and the economy with a potentially crippling increase to the minimum wage. The measure would place many small businesses – still the engines of economic growth – in an untenable position and would risk jobs.

If Labour were to win next year’s general election, the measure could lead to companies operating with tight margins, which have already been squeezed hard by the strength of the pound, faced with no alternative but to cut their workforce. The Centre for Policy Studies has put a figure on the cost of a Labour victory – the loss of over 300,000 new jobs and £25bn lopped off GDP.

Despite continued signs that Britain’s economy has undergone a miraculous recovery in the last year, with the International Monetary Fund again highlighting the country’s revival this weekend, Mr Miliband persists in his attack on business – the main drivers for the recovery.

After watching Mr Salmond resign last week, the reason for his demise has obviously passed the Labour Leader by.

more