Rishi Sunak denies favouring the South with levelling up funding allocations
Rishi Sunak has said northern England will “disproportionately benefit” from levelling up funding as he rejected suggestions schemes have been picked to shore up support in Tory areas.
Levelling up was a key policy under former PM Boris Johnson, who said he wanted to reduce the economic imbalance between the North and South.
But as part of the latest £2.1bn of support for local projects, almost £362m will be spent in London and the South East, while £354m will go to the North West.
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What is levelling up?
Politics hub: Labour hits out at Rishi Sunak using plane for levelling up funding trip
On a visit to Lancashire to promote the funding announcements, Mr Sunak insisted there was a “huge” difference in funding on a per capita basis, with the North West coming out on top.
“We are completely committed to levelling up across the United Kingdom,” he said.
“If you look at how we are spending this money it is disproportionately benefiting people in the North East, the North West, and that’s great.”
Mr Sunak denied the funding allocations were motivated by an attempt to shore up support in Tory seats.
It was put to him that his cabinet has more members representing Surrey than the north of England, and if this has impacted the decision-making process.
“I think around half the funding we have announced over the course of today, or both funds, has actually gone to places that are not controlled by Conservative MPs or councils,” he said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a Q&A session at The Platform in Morecambe
“I don’t think anyone can say it’s being done on that basis, there’s a completely objective, transparent criteria.”
Mr Sunak also faced criticism that many deprived areas missed out on the funding, while his own Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire was awarded £19m.
The PM defended the regeneration of the Catterick Garrison high street, saying the funding would deliver the amenities needed by troops living there.
Centralised system of decision making flawed’
Speaking in the Commons earlier, Communities Minister Lucy Frazer said £8bn of bids were made for the funding, with around £2bn approved to 100 projects.
The £2bn allocated comes from the overall £4.8bn levelling up fund announced in 2020.
Some Conservative MPs expressed dissatisfaction at their local communities not having made the cut.
Robert Largan said he was “bitterly disappointed” that High Peak Borough Council had once again failed to secure £20m in investment.
While Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street questioned why the majority of his region’s bids had been rejected.
“Fundamentally, this episode is just another example as to why Whitehall’s bidding and begging bowl culture is broken, and the sooner we can decentralise and move to proper fiscal devolution the better,” he said in a statement.
“The centralised system of London civil servants making local decisions is flawed and I cannot understand why the levelling up funding money was not devolved for local decision makers to decide what is best for their areas.”
Other investments granted include:
- £20m to Gateshead Quays and the Sage
- £5.1m to build female changing rooms in 20 rugby clubs across Northern Ireland
- £50m to create a direct train service linking Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth/Penryn in Cornwall
- £40m for a new Multiversity – a carbon-neutral education campus in Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway central business district
And a regional breakdown of the funding shows:
- Yorkshire and the Humber: £120,619,162
- West Midlands: £155,579,834
- Wales: £208,175,566
- South West: £186,663,673
- South East: £210,467,526
- Scotland: £177,206,114
- Northern Ireland: £71,072,373
- North West: £354,027,146
- North East: £108,548,482
- London: £151,266,674
- East Midlands: £176,870,348
- East: £165,903,400
Analysis in The Times indicated 52 Tory constituencies in England benefit – more than twice as many as those represented by Labour MPs.
Mr Sunak said the money allocated would boost growth, local pride and allow people to stay closer to where they grew up without feeling the need to move to the capital.
The PM has previously faced accusations of favouritism after leaked footage emerged of him telling Tory members in Kent how as chancellor he had channelled funding away from “deprived urban areas” to “make sure areas like this are getting the funding they deserve”.
The Q&A came amid criticism for using a jet to get to Lancashire rather than relying on the train.
Mr Sunak toured Accrington market on Thursday before heading to Morecambe, where £50m will support the Eden Project North attraction.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets stall holders during a community project visit to Accrington Market Hall
During a walkabout on the site of the project, one passer-by shouted: “Lend us 20 quid for my heating bill, Rishi.”
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove also defended the funding allocations, telling Sky News the government had “objective criteria that govern where money is going”.
‘Rock-bottom’ allocation of funding
But shadow communities minister Alex Norris questioned “what on earth” that criteria was.
Speaking in the Commons, he told MPs: “There’s a rock-bottom allocation for Yorkshire and the Humber, nothing for the cities of Birmingham, Nottingham and Stoke, nothing for Stonehouse in Plymouth, a community in the bottom 0.2% for economic activity.
“But money for the prime minister’s constituency, money for areas in the top quartile economically. What on earth were the objective criteria used to make these decisions?”
Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said the fund was a “Hunger Games-style contest” which only offered a partial refund for resources stripped out of communities through austerity measures.
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.
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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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