Will PM’s levelling up funding spree generate enough of a political return?
In Westminster, big levelling up funding decisions – of the sort announced today – are revealed to MPs on a soulless spreadsheet and generate brief, perfunctory gratitude from a handful of members in the Commons.
These documents are seized on primarily for patterns and national trends, provoke automatic anger from the losers – and there are always losers in this process – and the whole subject descends into a party political row about political bias in funding decisions.
That’s just how SW1 does politics, whatever the subject.
But for those who live and work and run businesses in the shadow of the 111 projects which got a share of the £2.1bn funding pie just announced, today was a profound milestone.
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What is levelling up?
Passer-by shouts at PM as he defends levelling up cash – politics latest
You only have to step foot on Morecambe seafront to understand the potential benefits from the £50m funding announced for this corner of the UK as part of today’s package, and sense that residents know the area is being given an important second chance.
Without prompting, they talk of the decision meaning a return to the heyday 50 years ago when Morecambe was a destination resort for large swathes of the United Kingdom, home of perhaps the largest swimming pool in Europe alongside a promenade and beach with views of the Lake District across the bay.
The £50m in central government will replace the much loved, internationally iconic swimming pool with a contemporary landmark with even more global reach: the first Eden Project outside Cornwall.
Giant translucent domes growing rare plants are now set to arrive on an unloved corner of the Lancashire coast, with construction beginning within a year.
And for once the hope evident in the local community flowing from a political decision does not seem far-fetched.
So it was no surprise that Rishi Sunak wanted to associate himself with this outpouring of goodwill, by holding his first ‘ask me anything’ event with the public in the centre of town.
After a criticism of woodenness levelled in his first speech of the year, this was a chance to show his skills interacting with the public spontaneously.
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‘Worried about losing southern seats?’
Not for the first time in his career, Mr Sunak discovered that if you come armed with tens of millions of pounds of public money, the audience pretty much adores you.
Almost every question from the locally invited audience began with a tribute to the Eden Project decision, with the prime minister beaming as he delivered a paean to the future of the town.
Read more: 100 projects across UK to receive £2bn in funding – is your area included?
Just as he became the most popular politician in the country after rolling out the COVID furlough scheme, so too was he seemingly the most popular politician today in Morecambe.
He looked relaxed and at home: spending money meant he knew he’d face a favourable crowd.
There was a reason he gave three TV interviews today as well as hosting a live event.
But the challenge for Mr Sunak is that he doesn’t have cash to splash everywhere in the country, and whilst the spread of awards had less obvious party political purpose than decisions of the Johnson era, the losers still complained.
Boris Johnson made ‘levelling up’ a key phrase and mission during his time as PM
One Tory MP told me that by funding a mixture of Tory southern seats and Labour areas, he was worried Mr Sunak was not maximising resources to help at the ballot box.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said it showed “the begging bowl culture was broken”.
By appearing to widen the target for funding to include London and the South East, he even blurred the central mission for levelling up set by predecessor Boris Johnson, making it a harder sell.
But the trickier question for Mr Sunak is whether he gets the credit.
Projects like the one in Morecambe have been worked on for years. Bids have been painstakingly submitted via the local council. High-profile local figures are already associated with each project.
Does a flying visit and three regional TV interviews generate enough of a political return, given the £2bn investment?
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Deprivation ‘a country-wide problem’
All of this on a day when suddenly the PM is refusing to recommit to HS2, seen by some as the spine of the levelling up project, either in answer to my or subsequent reporters’ questions.
Levelling up has always lacked definition, and today Rishi Sunak has broadened the scope for who needs help under the project to include the South East.
Claiming political credit for this was never going to be easy: did today make it harder?
World
Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
Read more:
No 10 indicates Netanyahu would be arrested
‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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