The huge project is expected to generate nearly £50billion for the economy by 2055. An estimated 8.5 million visitors are expected in the first year of the park opening.Keir Starmer has said the attraction will create around 28,000 jobs - 20,000 during the construction period, and 8,000 working on site when it opens in six years' time.The Prime Minister said "It is not just about numbers, it's about securing real opportunities for people in our country."Rachel Reeves described the investment as "a vote of confidence in Britain as a place to do business".COMMENT NOW - Are you excited for a Universal Studios amusement park in Britain?
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00:00Do you know, I did try. I tuned into your show briefly, but even I lost the will to live.
00:04Which is, I love you both after a while.
00:06But you can't not be belittling.
00:09I mean, obviously I've read all the papers this morning, but what it sounded like to me is that
00:13it sounded like a 45-minute begging letter for her job.
00:18And everything she talked about was stuff that was going to happen ten years down the line.
00:23It's like, you know, I know I've cooked up, but give me ten years and I'll sort it out, I promise.
00:27And no one's going to do that.
00:28That's, come on, we can't...
00:31Let me finish.
00:32She talked like the economy was powering ahead when actually it's on the floor.
00:37We're flat now.
00:38It's stagnating and has been for many years.
00:40No, it has not been for many years.
00:41It has been stagnating.
00:43When was the last time that economic growth was more than 0.3%?
00:48Do you know, from when they took over until the end of the year, there was zero growth.
00:53Bank of England announced that.
00:54Look, we can't criticise the government for not being interested in growth
00:57and then criticise them for, you know, announcing growth policies.
01:00Look, growth doesn't happen overnight.
01:01We know that.
01:02Doesn't take ten years.
01:03The problem that we've had in this country for such a long time is short-termism.
01:06Where governments announce things that can be delivered or can't be,
01:09in the case of the next year, there are some things that take years and years.
01:13We know that.
01:13If this was going to kick-start growth, why is the flagship announcement,
01:16Heathrow Airport, when she's admitted now that she hopes to get a development consent order
01:21signed within the lifetime of this parliament?
01:23That means they're not going to put a shovel in the land before the next election.
01:30It's a con.
01:31Michael O'Leary said yesterday, because the projections are 30 years,
01:34Michael O'Leary said yesterday, it could take up to 50 years.
01:36He all but called her a fool yesterday.
01:39He did.
01:39What was the word he said?
01:40He said she's had five years to prepare for being a councillor
01:43and she's actually screwed it all up in her first budget.
01:46And what scares me about her is she sees what's happening.
01:51She sees what her policies have done so far.
01:55And she's not admitting it.
01:56She's been told by business leaders that the rumours are there's like 150,000 job losses so far.
02:02But she's been told by businesses that they are being crippled by the NIRRs.
02:06She's not listening.
02:07She's just saying it'll work eventually.
02:09She doesn't look at the mistakes.
02:11She needs to just say, OK, that was wrong and this is what I'll try and do.
02:15But spewing out a whole load of policies that are long-term policies that may or may never happen.
02:21And they won't happen because she's going to be out after four years.
02:22Carol, no Chancellor is going to reverse a planned tax rise two months before it comes into effect.
02:29Because they look stupid.
02:29Obviously, the NIRRs is done.
02:31It will happen.
02:32It can be re-evaluated later in the Parliament.
02:34What we need chancellors and governments to do in general is to think beyond the life cycle of a single Parliament.
02:40Because one of the reasons that Britain is so paralysed, has become so incredibly uncompetitive, is that no government's thinking about no investment in infrastructure.
02:49What I don't understand is that whenever any of these big infrastructure projects have been mooted by the previous government,
02:58Starmer and Reeves were queuing up to say that we couldn't possibly afford it for the sake of the planet.
03:02We couldn't afford more aviation fuel in the sky.
03:08Well, suddenly, they seem OK with that.
03:11So, why?
03:12She voted against the expansion of the airport in her own constituency.
03:15No, she...
03:15Yes, she did.
03:16Well, she voted for a third runway at Heathrow when it was last bit of Parliament.
03:18She voted against the expansion of Leeds Airport in her own constituency.
03:22On environmental grounds.
03:23On environmental grounds.
03:24Not all airports are going to be the same.
03:25She's a hypocrite.
03:26Not all airports are going to be the same.
03:27Look, I happen to be against, personally, Heathrow expansion because I think it's too difficult to sort of meet it with the M25.
03:35But that's so interesting because you are on the political left and even you don't agree with what she wants.
03:40Well, a lot of people on the left hate.
03:42Who is she doing it for, then?
03:43Look, we need...
03:44I definitely agree that we need growth and, more importantly, we need to redistribute that growth.
03:48But for me, for example, the airport expansion should come at Gatwick, where the space is already there.
03:52Obviously, we need to balance that with climate commitments and that's...
03:56Well, that's gone out the window.
03:57Well, that's...