U.K.’s Johnson plans infrastructure boost as budget looms

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is gearing up to announce a boost in infrastructure spending focused on northern England, seeking to follow through on campaign pledges made before he led his Conservatives to a landslide victory in December’s general election.

The program will include 40 million pounds ($52 million) for 5G wireless networks in rural areas and investment in mass transit, according to a government official on Sunday. Meanwhile, Johnson is set to give the final go-ahead for Britain’s High Speed 2 rail line as soon as Feb. 11, the Financial Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

The speculation comes before Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid presents his first budget next month. According to the Telegraph, some Treasury officials are evaluating how to raise taxes from wealthy homeowners, who are more likely to live in the south. The Financial Times reported Saturday that Javid is considering a shake-up of pension tax breaks, which tend to benefit high-earners.

“There’s going to be a big investment in infrastructure,” Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said in an interview on Sky News on Sunday. “This is going to be a budget that tries to level up parts of the country that feel undervalued, and have not been invested in for a long time.”

After securing Britain’s departure from the European Union last month, Johnson is seeking to reward voters in northern England and the Midlands, where lifelong Labour supporters backed the Conservatives in the election. While that’s expected to begin in earnest with the March 11 budget, the government has already announced that it will take the troubled Northern Rail franchise back into state ownership. Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will require West Midlands Trains to make a 20 million-pound round of improvements for passengers to reduce delays and recruit more personnel.

Still, some have questioned how much of a economic benefit the extra spending can deliver. Last week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank said proposals were “unlikely to provide a seismic boost to productivity or offset the impact of Brexit.”

The announcement on HS2 will take place amid an expected reshuffle of Johnson’s cabinet, which could also take place on Feb. 11, according to the FT.