The road to growth: Why the Oxford-Cambridge corridor needs an expressway
The Memorandum | No. 03.2025
Last Wednesday, Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered a major speech on economic growth in which she confirmed that His Majesty’s (HM) Government supports a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
Among the many announcements in her speech, the Chancellor also backed plans for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, with the intention that the region will become ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ and drive investment, innovation and economic growth in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Oxford-Cambridge area has enormous potential, being home to two of the world’s greatest universities. In terms of science and technology intensity, Cambridge is ranked as the world’s preeminent science and technology cluster, while Oxford is ranked fourth.
The choice to grow the Oxford-Cambridge area or ‘level up’ poorer regions of the UK is a false dichotomy. By growing the region, the area can drive innovation and prosperity across the entire country.
The idea of connecting the region has previously been discussed, but Boris Johnson’s government shelved it in favour of focusing on economic growth outside of London and the South-East of England. As one article put it:
There is a clear consensus amongst both academic commentators and the professional community that current arrangements for strategic planning in England are inadequate. The withdrawal of central government from leadership of the proposed ‘Oxford-Cambridge Arc’ in early 2022 marks a particular nadir, not least given the ambitions for the planning of the area set out only a year earlier.
The news that the scheme is being revived should be welcomed. The choice to grow the Oxford-Cambridge area or ‘level up’ poorer regions of the UK is a false dichotomy. By growing the region, the area can drive innovation and prosperity across the entire country.
The Chancellor was right to say that ‘Oxford and Cambridge are two of the least affordable cities in the UK. In other words, the demand is there but there are far too many supply side constraints on economic growth in the region.’
Her announcement included funding for East-West Rail, with new services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. But the fact remains that there is poor road connectivity between Oxford and Cambridge, meaning they are better connected to London than to each other.
If the government is serious about unlocking the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, it should reconsider plans for an expressway. Such a linkage could boost growth along the so-called ‘Knowledge Spine’ (Science Vale to Bicester), as well as in Aylesbury Vale, Milton Keynes, Bedford and St Neots, Cambourne and Bourne Airfield along the A428 route.
Previous plans for an expressway were cancelled by Grant Shapps, then Secretary of State for Transport, in 2021 based on analysis indicating that its costs would exceed its benefits.
But HM Government has to start taking a longer-term view of prosperity in the country, and the Oxford-Cambridge region cannot be the ‘home of British innovation’ or drive innovation across the country with such poor road connectivity. At present, driving between the two cities – which are just 66 miles apart – requires using three motorways, including the M25, or using a series of smaller roads, both of which take well over two hours.
These latest announcements – alongside recent initiatives such as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Opportunities Action Plan – are signs that Labour is serious about getting the economy growing again.
Sir Keir has vowed to take on ‘the Nimbys and a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation’. But successive governments have tried and failed against strong local opposition and interests.
It’s also part of a growing recognition from Labour that its tone has been too negative. As I have previously argued, good politicians do not just chase public opinion, they capture and channel the national mood when needed. The new Labour government is starting to understand this.
Towards the beginning of their time in office, Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, and Reeves misjudged the public mood, and their warnings on the economy felt like a funeral for Britain. Now, they have struck a better balance, providing warnings about the challenges facing the economy while also giving a sense of hope with a more ambitious and positive agenda.
But Labour has a difficult road to walk ahead.
Sir Keir has vowed to take on ‘the Nimbys and a broken system that has slowed down our progress as a nation’. But successive governments have tried and failed against strong local opposition and interests. There will be those who oppose these infrastructure projects, such as Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, who reiterated his opposition to Heathrow’s third runway.
And Labour have now been in office for half a year. Time is not on their side. Many of the projects announced in the Chancellor’s speech will take years if not decades to come to fruition. We know that public infrastructure projects tend to go well over budget, often taking far longer than planned.
Growth only really matters when people feel their living standards improving and see their communities thriving. The revival of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor is a good place to start, and is becoming another piece of Labour’s new coherent and optimistic narrative about national renewal and economic development. But it cannot happen without proper road connectivity.
Dr Mann Virdee is Senior Research Fellow in Science, Technology, and Economics at the Council on Geostrategy and leads the Caudwell Strong Britain project.
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Absolutely. As someone who has taken the slothful Oxford-Cambridge bus (4 hours on average!) through winding village lanes several times, travelling between the two cities is painful. An expressway would be fantastic - especially if it can avoid the endless roundabouts around Milton Keynes, though I would also note that for academic-to-academic travel in particular, a direct train would be hugely beneficial, not least because (anecdotally) a decent percentage might not actually own cars.
A good read. As you say, Labour have been in power half a year. This false start has been very curious and I wonder if they can overcome it. The main thing in their favour would seem to be the lack of any sort of disquiet in the parliamentary party. Yet.