If we could set aside the political cycle, what would that long term project be?
Educate, and upskill: the country will continue to lag behind, if [pouring boiling water on some coffee beans] is relied upon as a significant proportion of our "productivity".
Infrastructure: decent roads and rail network. Publicly owned, if necessary. Joined-up public transport strategy between centres of population.
Not more bodged patching up.
I've previously posted about my "100 yr cycle network", to facilitate local commuting for those who would, but for the cr@p state of the existing roads.
Water and power: public ownership. The nation shouldn't be milked for profits, for essentials. Under public ownership, "profits" will be used to maintain and improve the infrastructure.
Hospitals, schools, etc. Build decent, and maintain. No more throwing cr@p up, then neglecting or patching.
Health: NHS, free at point of delivery. Dentistry too. Poor health might not shorten your life, but it makes the latter part of it miserable and, selfishly for the country, unproductive and expensive.
Yes, this will all cost.
But before the usual kn0bheads bleat on about how much tax they already pay / how much someone else will be prepared to pay, let me finish with this:
We're already paying the highest tax burden in years, yet the country is falling to bits. Our money is just going to shoitehawks.
This is going to cost so much not just because it is expensive, but because decades of governments haven't kept on top of the situation in the first place.
It's took decades to fudge it up: it'll take decades to make it better.
Which doesn't mean "it's too much, so we'll not bother at all!"
As I've posted before, like claiming you've saved money by not paying your mortgage, and calling the paying of the arrears as financially-prudent overpaying".
Don't let the unlikelihood of achieving perfection get in the way of the quest to get better.