The UK’s current right-leaning Conservative government last week announced plans for £1bn in broadband investments including fiber and 5G, as well as a pot of money for autonomous vehicles. In Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement, outlining financial plans for the country in the build-up to its Brexit negotiations, a new body called the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) was announced. This will oversee government spending in housing, transport, digital communications and R&D – with a budget of £170bn over the next five years. There are a number of political skeptics, and the government itself has noted that it will have to increase its borrowing by £122bn over the five-year period too. But those disputes aside, there is…