At last some sense about infrastructure. For years Tory and labour governments have been pushing public bodies to have Private Public Partnerships or Private Finance Initiatives. Where public bodies pay through the nose to have capital investment built to a generally minimalist quality and get locked into inflexible contracts – imagine 25 years ago predicting the internet, mobile phones, etc and building a contract sufficiently flexible to cope.

As a Liberal Democrat I thin kwe’ve cracked it by suggesting a national infrastructure bank. The idea is a bank guaranteed by government, long term investment from the private sector to build capital public projects that build wealth creating infrastructure.

The Institution of Civil Engineers have welcomed the idea.

You can be sure Conservatives wont like the idea – the current PFI system makes private bankers wealthy but locks in public inefficiencies for decades to come.

Hopefully the financial crisis will ensure all politicians take a fresh look at such a great idea.