Stephen Crabb, a candidate in the Conservative leadership race, has pledged to create a £100 billion Growing Britain Fund for infrastructure projects including social housing and school buildings if he becomes the next Prime Minister.

Crabb, the current secretary for work and pensions, said that funding would come from issuing new government bonds after bond yields fell to a record low and brought down borrowing costs following Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

“The cost of borrowing is incredibly low. Spending government money on infrastructure has therefore never been more affordable,” Crabb said.

Crabb announced plans for the fund alongside Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who is to be appointed chancellor if Crabb wins the conservative leadership contest.

The pair has promised to issue £20 billion of long-dated gilts each year for the next five years to finance infrastructure projects such as flood defences.

Money would also be invested in social housing, school building, new prisons, energy efficiency. It could also benefit bigger projects such as the Crossrail two, a proposed rail route in South East England.

Javid insisted the new fund will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“Our Growing Britain Fund will get Britain building, create jobs and economic growth. It is right that we focus on our exit negotiations, but we must also think about the steps we should take to take advantage of the opportunities that Brexit can bring,” he said.

“My team has a plan and is ready to take the strategic decisions needed to provide confidence in the UK now and in the years to come,” he said.

Crabb launches leadership bid

Crabb, 43, is the youngest contenders of five candidates - Theresa May, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox - currently in the race to succeed to David Cameron after he decided to step down as Prime Minister in the wake of UK’s vote to leave the EU.

Theresa May is the favourite among Tory voters with 60 per cent saying they would choose her to be the next Prime Minister, according to an ICM poll for the Sun on Sunday.

Michael Gove came second with 10 per cent, while Andrea Leadsom was in third on six per cent.

In an interview with the Evening Standard, Crabb said his policies would include a strong social and economic programme for disadvantaged communities to tackle underlying poverty.

The favourites in the Tory leadership race Show all 5 1 /5 The favourites in the Tory leadership race The favourites in the Tory leadership race Theresa May The longest-serving Home Secretary in 100 years took a back seat in the referendum campaign. While backing Remain, she did not hit the campaign trail and delivered only a handful of speeches and interviews, and was critical of many aspects of the EU, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. Hedging her bets allows her to now emerge as a ‘unity’ candidate, and she is said to have been building up her back-room staff in preparation for a leadership bid. She has the significant advantage of having served in one of the great offices of state, in a steady and competent manner that has won her many admirers within party and the civil service. At a time of great instability, it may be that she is viewed as steady hand on the tiller. Mrs May does however, lack the ‘star quality’ of a Boris Johnson and party members may doubt her ability to connect with ordinary voters PA The favourites in the Tory leadership race Michael Gove The Justice Secretary may be able to set himself up as ‘the thinking Tory’s Brexit candidate’. Made an enormous political and personal decision to back Leave, taking on his old friend David Cameron. He performed well during the TV debates, and will be an admired figure among Eurosceptic Conservatives. Along with Johnson, he will be hindered by the fact that he led a very divisive campaign, characterised by ‘blue-on-blue’ action. MPs may also judge that he lacks Boris Johnson’s wider appeal with the electorate. Possibly more likely that he will settle for being his new bosom buddy Boris’s Chancellor Getty The favourites in the Tory leadership race Stephen Crabb Highly-rated Work and Pensions Secretary, raised on a council estate, so could reach out to non-traditional working class Tory voters Getty Images The favourites in the Tory leadership race Andrea Leadsom Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change is one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign, seen to have performed well in TV debates Rex Features The favourites in the Tory leadership race Liam Fox British Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, as sources said he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party AFP/Getty

“We’ve got to show the Conservative Party is a party of the ladder, helping people to make progress in their lives.”