Economic growth is the overarching aim of this Labour government because it will give us the ability to invest in Britain again, from cutting waiting lists to putting more police on our streets.
It is also key to unlocking the potential of every part of our country and making sure that good jobs and good wages aren’t exclusive to the south.
That’s why I was pleased to see so much focus on projects in every region in the Chancellor’s speech.
The headline announcement which you may have already heard is that we will be supporting plans for Heathrow to expand.
This isn’t just about benefitting passengers; a third runway will increase Heathrow’s capacity for trade and cargo and have an impact far outside London and the South East.
This is being coupled with more than £63 m of investment into producing sustainable aviation fuel, which will benefit the climate and communities in places like Port Talbot and Teeside, where these plants exist.
Closer to home, there’s also focus on airports as the Chancellor announced a new logistics and advanced manufacturing site near East Midlands Airport.
This is a big vote of confidence in the East Midlands and it will bring £1bn in new investment to the area, along with 2,000 new jobs.
And this is just one example of the investment happening all over the country.
There is significant investment planned in public transport in the north, such as upgrading the Transpennine Route, and £7.9 bn has approved for nine new reservoirs, so we can drag our outdated water infrastructure into the modern day.
These projects will bring money and jobs to their areas, as well as improving the quality of life of the people living there.
At a higher level, the National Wealth Fund, which this government set up last year, will be establishing partnerships with city regions to provide focused support. The West Midlands and West Yorkshire are in their first round, and they’ll be expanding further in the future.
Similarly, the Office for Investment is developing pipelines of global investment, starting with the North East.
It is no exaggeration to say that all the powers at this government’s disposal are being brought to bear on the job of bringing economies all across England up to the level that we know they can be.
The impact of our work to boost growth is already being felt - a recent survey showing that the UK is the second most attractive country in the world for investment.
PwC has been asking business chief executives the question for almost 30 years and this is the UK’s highest ever ranking, with only the US ahead.
With improved business confidence and the stability provided by the measures in October’s budget, these plans will be a big step towards delivering the change we promised last July.