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Javid woos voters with £20 billion more a year on infrastructure spending

British chancellor Sajid Javid said a new Conservative government would spend up to £20 billion ($25.7 billion) more each year on road, rail and other infrastructure projects, and there would be room for tax cuts too.

If Boris Johnson is re-elected as prime minister on Dec. 12, Javid said the government would set itself new fiscal rules allowing it to spend up to 3 per cent of annual economic output on infrastructure, higher than a historical average of around 1.8 per cent.


In a speech in which he painted his plans as "responsible" in contrast to the bigger spending promises of the opposition Labour Party, he said debt as a share of economic output would be lower at the end of the next parliament than at the start.

Javid said low borrowing costs for the government meant it was a responsible time for the government to invest but he would run a balanced budget for day-to-day spending.

If debt servicing costs rose sharply, the government would reassess its spending plans, he said.

Javid also said there would be room for tax cuts if the government stuck to its new fiscal rules.

"If we stick to these rules that I've set out today...we can afford some tax cuts," Javid told an audience in Manchester.

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John Xavier

In 2019, Xavier founded London Baron Limited, with Manavatty as its flagship product.

John Xavier

How John Xavier turned Kerala’s traditional arrack into Manavatty — a rising UK spirits brand

Highlights

  • Manavatty now available in over 250 off-licence shops across the UK and expanding to 20 countries.
  • Brand won bronze at London Spirits Competition 2025 and Spirit Bronze 2025 at International Wine and Spirit Competition.
  • Scottish National Party auctioned signed Manavatty bottles at Edinburgh for party fundraising.
When Scotland's first minister John Swinney signed a bottle of Manavatty at the Scottish National Party convention in Edinburgh on (November 15), it marked an extraordinary milestone for an entrepreneur who had resurrected a spirit banned in his native Indian state.
With Scotland's SNP elections approaching in 2026, the party selected Manavatty for their traditional fundraising auction, a recognition that few immigrant-founded brands achieve.

"It's a tradition for the SNP political party to keep a product at an auction and take the funds for party welfare," explains John Xavier, the man behind this unlikely success story.

John Xavier Manavatty was selected for SNP's traditional fundraising auctionJohn Xavier

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