The Government is coming under mounting pressure to adopt a Plan B alternative to its deep spending cuts.
The industry campaign to invest in the built environment as a means to get Britain back on the path to economic recovery by creating new jobs is now gaining momentum in the political mainstream.
Its campaign to persuade Government to invest in new housing, schools and hospitals won important backing this weekend when 47 economists and academics wrote an open letter to the Observer newspaper.
They warned that the government should not be cutting so fast, and the time had come to adopt a Plan B to stimulate job creation.
The letter from eminent economists warned: "Growth has gone flat over the past six months and a slew of dismal data has raised fears that the UK could be sliding towards a double-dip recession."
There is now real concern that the Government's deficit reduction plan will fail to deliver growth after a raft of negative economic data by the International Monetary Fund and Confederation of British Industry downgraded their forecasts for growth.
Mike Leonard, director of the Modern Masonry Alliance, said: "The current strategy will not deliver the economic growth targets and unemployment will continue to rise.
"Plan B was launched in the Autumn of 2010. We need to build our way to economic recovery and create quality employment."
He added: ‘We call on the coalition to act now to provide the stimulus to ensure we start building the homes, schools, hospitals and prisons we need to meet the needs of our fast growing population
"Now is the time to commit to a long term strategy to build a better Britain."
The Get Britain Building campaign is backed by British Precast, the Builder's Merchants Federation, Federation of Master Builders and Modern Masonry Alliance and voices the concerns of thousands of firms up and down the country.
The Plan B document argues that targeted investment in building is the best and fastest route to maintain and create 2.5m real jobs and deliver big payback for Britain.
Furthermore, each pound invested in construction provides 56p return to the Exchequer and retains 92p within the UK.
