Lisa Nandy has said Michael Goveâs long-awaited levelling up plan is âmore of the sameâ from a government âout of ideasâ and âout of energyâ.
In a stinging Commons exchange, Labourâs shadow levelling up secretary accused ministers of âcobbling together a shopping list of recycled policies and fiddling the figuresâ.
Gove was forced to defend the funding of his levelling up promises on Wednesday morning, insisting the government will âchange the economic model of this countryâ.
The levelling up secretary said there are â12 big missionsâ the government wants to achieve by 2030 in order to improve the lives of those outside London and the South East.
‘National missions’
The white paper will set out a series of wide-ranging national âmissionsâ â from improving public transport to ensuring access to 5G broadband â to be enshrined in law.
But Nandy said the governmentâs plan âdoes nothing to addressâ struggling high streets and local economies.
Speaking in the Commons, she said: âWhat we needed was a plan â to connect our towns and villages to jobs, opportunities, our family and our friends.
âBut theyâve halved the funding for buses, scrapped rail promises to the north and where is the digital Britain we were promised?â
‘Where is what we were promised?’
Hitting out at Gove for including âa history lesson on the rise of the Roman Empireâ in the long-awaited policy release, she said: âYou donât need to look to Rome, Jericho or Renaissance Florence for inspiration.
âIn Preston, Wigan and Grimsby people are delivering real change for themselves â not because of their government, but despite it.
âImagine what we could do if they got out of the way and gave us back the power to make decisions for ourselves. Itâs absurd that we still have to go cap in hand to Westminster to do things we know will work for us.
âWe asked for powers and we got a process. Where are the powers we were promised? The arrogance of a Chancellor sitting in Whitehall drawing lines on a map, choosing which of us have earned the right to have some say over the decisions that affect our lives, our families, our communities.â
Nandy continued: âIn every corner of our country, people know we can do so much better than this. Well-paid jobs that put money back into peopleâs pockets to genuinely transform our high streets and town centres.
âReformed business rates that back our bricks and mortar businesses. A plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain and an education recovery plan that stands as a testament to our commitment to the young people who make this country.Â
âThis is our mission Mr Speaker. Today weâve learnt one crucial thing â for all the spin and the gloss â they wonât do it. We will.â
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