Wes Streeting will announce plans to scrap planning laws for major infrastructure projects, effectively stripping local communities of the ability to object to new energy, data centre and transport schemes, in a speech designed to set out his economic agenda should he become prime minister.
The former health secretary, widely seen as a potential challenger to Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, is expected to argue that central government must become the sole decision-maker for projects deemed to be of national importance. His proposals directly confront the devolution-focused approach of his main rival, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who wants to hand more powers to regions and communities.
Streeting’s camp has already drafted bills aimed at fast-tracking infrastructure schemes. Under the plans, entire categories of nationally significant projects — including reservoirs, power plants, transport links and data centres — could be exempted from individual planning applications. Instead, they would receive “decision in principle” consent through parliamentary bills, with ministers settling environmental concerns and conducting consultations only after construction has been given the green light.
The move builds on reforms championed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has sought to speed up economic growth by making it easier to build infrastructure. The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast a permanent increase in UK GDP as a result of planning changes already introduced. Last December, the government passed the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which streamlined approvals for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) by reducing pre-application consultation periods and removing certain statutory duties.
But Streeting wants to go further. He will argue that the current system still allows projects to become bogged down in red tape, local objections and environmental demands. In his speech on Tuesday, he is expected to cite the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station as a prime example: approved by the government in 2016, construction began in March 2017, but completion is now projected for as late as 2030. “Successive governments have been sleeping, while Britain’s crying out for action,” Streeting will say. “If parliament can act in days to save British Steel, it can act with urgency to save Britain’s future prosperity.”
North Sea oil and gas reversal
Streeting also plans to overturn Ed Miliband’s ban on new fossil fuel production, allowing drilling to resume in the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in the North Sea. Both projects have been mired in legal uncertainty: a Scottish court ruled in January 2025 that their approvals were unlawful because ministers had failed to consider downstream emissions. Developers Shell and Equinor have been told to revise their environmental assessments, and a final decision is still pending. The current government’s “North Sea Future Plan”, introduced last November, bans new exploration licences but permits limited production adjacent to existing fields via so-called tie-backs and transitional energy certificates.
Streeting will argue that continuing North Sea drilling is essential for economic growth and tax revenue, warning that opponents of new oil and gas extraction risk opening the door to a Reform UK government by keeping energy costs high and eroding public support for net-zero policies. He proposes that tax receipts from the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields should be ploughed into cheaper energy measures such as heat pumps and home insulation.
The speech, which comes two days before the Makerfield by-election — a contest in which Andy Burnham is vying to return to parliament — represents a direct challenge not only to the green lobby and local nimbyism but also to his own party’s internal factions. Streeting has publicly backed Burnham’s candidacy, creating a complex political dynamic as both men position themselves for a future leadership contest.
Immigration and global talent
In a separate but related policy announcement, Streeting will set out plans to increase high-skilled immigration to the UK. He wants to recruit 20,000 scientists, engineers and artificial intelligence experts from around the world through a £250 million global talent programme that would be housed in the Prime Minister’s office. Streeting’s team argues that the initiative would help the UK attract talent that may be deterred by the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies in the United States, boosting the country’s competitiveness in technology and research.
Streeting’s intervention marks the most detailed economic platform yet from a Labour figure openly preparing to challenge Sir Keir Starmer. His proposals on planning, energy and immigration are designed to position him as the candidate who can deliver the growth that successive governments have failed to achieve. “We used to be a country that could do great things,” he will say. “With the promise that the next generation can have it better than the last. We still can. And I want to give people reason to believe again.”
