What does PM’s vow to ‘level up’ really mean?
Boris Johnson will make a speech on Thursday on his plans to “level up and unite the country”, something the prime minister has previously described as “the central purpose of his premiership”.
In the Conservatives’ 2019 general election-winning manifesto, the party said its focus would be “levelling up every part of the UK” and the term has since become a key slogan for Mr Johnson’s government.
The term was a key tenet of the Queen’s Speech, the prime minister now has a ‘levelling up adviser’ and Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £4.8bn ‘levelling up fund’.
The regeneration of the high street is expected to form a key part of the PM’s speech on Thursday
In the party’s manifesto, the PM said it would involve investing in towns, cities and rural and coastal areas, using apprenticeships to balance out skills, giving areas more control over investment and creating new freeports.
Andy Street, the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands – where the PM will be making his speech on Thursday – has said it should mean “a level playing field for the UK’s regions” in terms of opportunities.
And more recently, the term ‘levelling up’ was heavily referenced in the Hartlepool by-election in May – which saw a Tory MP elected for the first time in the current constituency’s history.
But what does the phrase really mean?
Levelling up is ‘not just getting a shiny new high street’
Conservative MP Simon Fell, one of the many new party representatives elected in the 2019 snap general election, said placing more decision-making locally and investment in education is key to levelling up.
“I think we are seeing good progress on levelling up with towns deals, the Levelling Up Fund, high street bids, all that sort of stuff,” the MP for Barrow and Furness told Sky News.
“But what I am really interested in seeing is more local decision-making, pushing decisions back closer to people, and I am hoping that we will see with that some of what will deliver long-term levelling up.
“I look at my own patch, some of the real challenges we have are around education and health.
“So how we drive changes there, that we are not just getting a shiny new high street – I would happily take a shiny new high street – but actually giving young people the opportunities both in terms of the skills they can pick up and the education they receive, but also the health outcomes which are just lacking at the moment.”
Conservative MP Sir John Redwood says investment in small business and enterprise is key to levelling up
‘Harnessing public and private sectors to create sustained progress’
Conservative MP Sir John Redwood says levelling up to him is investment in “training, education, support for small business and enterprise”.
“To me, the aim is very clear: it is primarily about more people going on worthwhile personal journeys so that we end up with many more people who are in worthwhile and well-paid work where they find more enjoyment and reward from it in every sense,” the MP for Wokingham told Sky News.
Mr Redwood added that the key to effective levelling up is “harnessing public and private sectors” to create “sustained progress for a community”.
“You are not going to get a sustained recovery or a noticeable levelling up if you just put one or two large public sector projects into a place,” he said.
“It has got to be much more comprehensive than that and a lot of the action is going to be private sector led. “
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced eight new freeports in England in March.
‘Rebalancing the economy and bringing high-quality, well-paid jobs to the regions’
Conservative MP and former minister Simon Clarke says levelling up is about “creating jobs and opportunity and restoring pride in place”.
“My priority for the future is very clear – delivering more good jobs, growth and investment for the area I was brought up in,” the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland told Sky News.
Mr Clarke added: “Here on Teesside, our new freeport is already bringing the first high-quality, well-paid jobs to our region with huge investors such as GE Renewables choosing Teesside for their new manufacturing operations.
“The Towns Fund, the Future High Streets Fund and the Levelling Up Fund are all enabling our local authorities to deliver investment and kick-start shovel-ready projects to make the improvements that will unlock future investment in our towns and communities.
“The government is rebalancing the economy to give communities which have felt ignored and let down a greater share of investment and greater control over how these investments are made.”
Giles Wilkes, senior fellow at the Institute for Government, said Boris Johnson sees R&D (research and development) as key to his levelling up promise
‘What the state should be doing is what the levelling up debate is all about’
Giles Wilkes, senior fellow at the Institute for Government and former special adviser to Theresa May, says the levelling up debate for Mr Johnson’s government is about two things – investment and research and development (R&D) spending.
On the latter, he said: “This is the idea that if you try to situate your brainy industries outside of these regions that normally benefit from it, the south east and so on, then you will be able to generate new clusters that will become the Seattles and Bostons of the future.
“All I can say about this is that it is extremely difficult.
“The agglomeration benefits of being around where the existing clever people are is incredibly powerful and there is a long list, perhaps 100 long, on Wikipedia of places that decided to call themselves Silicon something-or-other and failed – because there is only one Silicon Valley.”
Police say they are reviewing “information” about former Conservative MP Mark Menzies after Labour asked for an investigation into claims he misused party funds.
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds wrote to Lancashire Police asking for an inquiry after The Times reported he had made a late-night phone call to an aide asking for funds to pay off “bad people”.
Mr Menzies told the paper he contests the allegations against him.
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Mark Menzies, the MP for Fylde. Pic: UK Parliament
In a statement, Lancashire Police said: “We can confirm that we have now received a letter detailing concerns around this matter and we are in the process of reviewing the available information in more detail.”
Mr Menzies lost the Conservative Party whip in Westminster following the reports on Wednesday evening, while the party investigates the claims.
Losing the whip means Mr Menzies is no longer a member of the Conservative parliamentary party and will sit as an independent MP, rather than a Tory MP, in the House of Commons.
A Conservative spokesperson said: “The party is conducting an investigation into the claims made and has been doing so for several months.
“We will of course share any information with the police if they believe it would be helpful to any investigation they decide to undertake. Suggestions the party has not been seriously examining this matter are demonstrably false.”
In the letter to Lancashire Police, the Labour Party chair is understood to have said Tory chief whip, party whip’s office, and headquarters may have information that could assist with an investigation.
The letter also argues there is a clear public interest in the matter being investigated by officers to ensure public confidence in politicians.
Read more:
Activist who reported Menzies disappointed by party response
All the Tory MPs suspended since Rishi Sunak became PM
Mel Stride, the government’s work and pensions secretary, told Sky News this morning the matter was being “thoroughly investigated”.
“Conservative HQ is looking now very closely into the circumstances around the various reports that have been made, and the whip has been removed from Mark Menzies in the meantime,” he added.
Labour shadow minister Matthew Pennycook told Sky News: “There are a series of questions about whether an offence has been committed in relation to fraud by false representation or misconduct in public office.
“They’re quite serious allegations. It’s right that the police investigate.”
Asked about the matter this morning, Rishi Sunak said: “It’s right that Mark Menzies has resigned the Conservative whip. He’s been suspended from his position as a trade envoy whilst the investigations into those allegations continue.
“For our part, I can’t comment on our ongoing investigation while it’s happening, and he’s no longer a Conservative MP.”
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Speaking to the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Tory peer Ruth Davidson reckoned Mr Menzies would not last the week as a MP.
In a statement to The Times, Mr Menzies said: “I strongly dispute the allegations put to me. I have fully complied with all the rules for declarations. As there is an investigation ongoing I will not be commenting further.”
Politics
Mark Menzies: Tory activist who reported MP over alleged misuse of funds disappointed by party response
A Tory activist who reported an MP over claims he misused party funds has told Sky News she is disappointed by the way her complaint has been handled.
Mark Menzies voluntarily quit the Conservative parliamentary party this week after a report in The Times claimed he called his ex-campaign manager Katie Fieldhouse, 78, early one day to say he was locked in a flat by “bad people” and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”.
The sum, which rose to £6,500, was eventually paid by his office manager from her personal bank account and subsequently reimbursed from funds raised from donors in an account named Fylde Westminster Group, the newspaper said.
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But despite the incident taking place in December – and Ms Fieldhouse submitting her complaint in January – the Fylde MP had remained part of the parliamentary party and as a trade envoy for the government until the press reports surfaced.
He has now lost the Conservative whip and was suspended as one of Rishi Sunak’s envoys.
Mr Menzies strongly disputes the claims, which also include accusations he used campaign funds to pay his personal medical bills.
Speaking to Sky News’ Frazer Maude, Ms Fieldhouse said: “I am feeling dreadful because I am a devout Tory and as I have said to everybody else, I reported his actions to the chief whip… it is now the middle of April.
“Come to your own conclusions [about] what is happening.”
Asked if she was disappointed with the way the complaint was being handled, she said: “Yes.”
And asked if Mr Menzies should step down, she added: “It is for his conscience and the party to deal with. I have put my faith in the party, it is for them to deal with it.”
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Mr Sunak was also asked by reporters on Friday whether his former colleague should quit the Commons, and why it had taken until now for the party to act, but he said he would not comment while an investigation was being carried out.
Instead, the prime minister said: “It’s right that Mark Menzies has resigned the Conservative whip. He’s been suspended from his position as a trade envoy whilst the investigations into those allegations continue.
“For our part, I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation while it’s happening and he’s no longer a Conservative MP.”
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has written to Lancashire Police to demand an investigation into allegations of fraud and misconduct in public office.
Leader Sir Keir Starmer told broadcasters that the Conservatives “seem to have sat on their hands” over the allegations.
He added: “If they thought they could sweep this under the carpet somehow they were obviously very mistaken and that is why I think there are very serious questions now that need to be answered – not just by the individual but also by the government on this.”
And the Liberal Democrats have called for the ministerial ethics adviser to investigate chief whip Simon Hart’s handling of the complaint.
The UK government has been accused of a U-turn after accepting Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete at the 2024 Olympics.
Last year, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said athletes “funded by their states” or “who are in receipt of funding or sponsorship directly aligned to their states” cannot be considered neutral in the context of the invasion of Ukraine.
Britain is part of a coalition of like-minded countries which had called for a ban on such athletes due to this funding.
But the government has now confirmed it agrees with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete under a neutral banner at the upcoming Paris Games.
Ms Frazer said on Friday those athletes will be taking part under the “strictest neutrality conditions possible”.
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After the position was revealed by The Times earlier this month, there were accusations of a government U-turn on the issue.
Richard Caborn, who was sports minister between 2001 and 2007, said: “This is a humiliating U-turn by Frazer after her forceful speech one year ago to the Council of Europe setting out why Britain should support the total ban of Russian athletes participating in the Paris Olympics.”
In her speech last year, Ms Frazer said the IOC’s recommendations did “not go far enough”, and that a group of more than 30 nations had raised concerns.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer. Pic: PA
The government has rejected the suggestion that it changed course following an IOC threat to prevent the UK from hosting Olympic qualifying events.
Ms Frazer said on Friday that she and sports minister Stuart Andrew are “personally committed to supporting Ukraine in the face of Putin’s illegal invasion”.
They said it was for each sporting body, like the IOC, to make their own determinations.
Ms Frazer added: “But our position is clear. Putin’s regime does not deserve to see its athletes line up on the starting blocks of races or stand on podiums during medal ceremonies as representatives of their countries.
“This has never been about punishing individual Russian or Belarusian athletes.
“What we stand against is athletes competing representing the states of Russia and Belarus.
“We continue to vigorously oppose Russian and Belarusian state participation. Our policy has never been a complete and total ban on neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus participating at all.”
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Inside Paris 2024 preparations
The minister pointed out Russians and Belarusians have been able to compete as neutrals in UK tennis competitions.
She insisted the efforts of the government and coalition have been focused on urging Olympic organisers to “change their approach, apply the strictest neutrality conditions possible and ensure they are implemented rigorously”.
“After two years of concerted lobbying, they have done that. And the result is that the number of athletes from Russia and Belarus expected to participate in the Olympics is in the tens, not hundreds.
“As a result, we have written to the IOC and International Paralympic Committee noting that their final neutrality rules for Paris achieve the widely accepted baseline of ensuring that Russia and Belarus are not represented as states in international sport.”
The IOC expects as many as 54 Russian athletes to compete in Paris.
They will not be able to compete in team disciplines, cannot compete in Russian colours or under the Russian flag and medals will not be included together in a table.
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The IOC is leaving it up to the individual sports to make decisions on whether to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete even as neutrals – World Athletics, for instance, has imposed an outright ban.
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