UK Government review - 'No Stone Unturned' - front cover.
UK Government ministerial uncertainty over aviation is criticised in a government-commissioned review on economic policy published on Wednesday.
Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative Party deputy prime minister, warned in his six-month study on the government's economic policy that "continuing as we are is not an acceptable option."
Heseltine, called for a "war psychology" to overcome the economic crisis and urged for an end to ministerial uncertainty on crucial issues such as aviation because "the world will not stand still — and nor must we".
However, despite cutting remarks into every aspect of Britain's low growth, the government welcomed the report.
"I wanted Lord Heseltine to do what he does best: challenge received wisdom and give us ideas on how to bring government and industry together. He has done exactly that. This is a report bursting with ideas and we will study it very carefully," Chancellor George Osborne said.
In the 228-page report, entitled No Stone Unturned, Heseltine makes 89 recommendations, including the need to strengthen controls on foreign takeovers to block deals deemed unfavourable to Britain.
He avoided criticising ministers directly, but said that "it takes too long for decisions to be made" by the government and the message amongst Britons is "that the UK does not have a strategy for growth and wealth creation".
The report challenges government policy on a vast range of specific issues such as immigration, ways to boost infrastructure spending and the lack of a decision on where to build a four runway airport around London.
