Tory MPs urge Rishi Sunak to fast-track Levelling Up Bill or risk election defeat
A group of Conservative MPs have called on the prime minister to fast-track the Levelling Up Bill – or risk losing the next general election.
The East Midlands group – led by Ben Bradley, the MP for Mansfield – wrote to Rishi Sunak yesterday to share their concerns.
They centre around the government’s Levelling Up Bill, a cornerstone of the party’s 2019 election win, which is currently tied up in the House of Lords.
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The East Midlands MPs wants the bill to place a duty on the government to support devolution, create a new model for local authorities in England, give local authorities new powers and reform the planning system.
But its slow progress could impact Mr Sunak’s electoral hopes, according to the MPs.
They wrote: “If the government fails to pass this law… urgently, before the summer… our opportunity to seize this chance and deliver tangible, real-world benefits to our constituents ahead of the next general election will be lost.”
The group consists of Mr Bradley, as well as Tom Randall, Mark Fletcher, Pauline Latham, Nigel Mills, Heather Wheeler, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Maggie Throup, Darren Henry and one “private” Conservative MP.
They highlight the low levels of investment in the region between 2021 and 2022, saying that they need “access to opportunities now so that our constituents and businesses can make the best use of their talents to steer the country through the cost of living crisis, so that we, as East Midlands MPs, can demonstrate clearly on the doorstep what conservative policies mean in the real world for jobs, families and local investment”.
Conservative MP Ben Bradley. Pic: House of Commons
And they also criticised “Whitehall’s ‘one-size fits all’ approach” to managing devolved matters – a tacit broadside aimed at the Civil Service.
Their criticisms of the Civil Service align with those of hardline Brexit-backing Conservative MPs. Both Tory groups are now piling pressure on the prime minister.
The die-hard Brexit group, which includes the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg, were left furious on Wednesday when the government announced it was no longer planning to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of the year.
The government will instead aim to remove around 600 in the coming months.
Eurosceptics see this as Rishi Sunak reneging on one of his election pledges made in the Tory leadership race.
They have also sought to blame the Civil Service for dragging its feet when it comes to removing the laws.
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What is levelling up?
In their letter to Mr Sunak, the East Midlands MPs said: “Brexit was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our country to take back control and govern its own destiny.
“We know that your government understands that this was only the first chapter of our conservative and national renewal.
“Now, with the Levelling Up Bill, we will be able to give that control back to the people and the local businesses who know better than any government how to generate jobs and prosperity.”
This is the highest stakes diplomacy via social media.
The American president just posted on his Truth Social platform: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
“Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Israel-Iran live: Trump says US knows where Iran’s supreme leader is ‘hiding’
It was followed minutes later by “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In real-time, we are witnessing Donald Trump’s extreme version of maximum pressure diplomacy.
He’d probably call it the ‘art of the deal’, but bunker busters are the tool, and it comes with such huge consequences, intended and unintended, known and unknown.
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Nuclear sites targeted in Iran
There is intentional ambiguity in the president’s messaging. His assumption is that he can apply his ‘art of the deal’ strategy to a deeply ideological geopolitical challenge.
It’s all playing out publicly. Overnight, the New York Times, via two of its best-sourced reporters, had been told that Mr Trump is weighing whether to use B-2 aircraft to drop bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Axios was reporting that a meeting is possible between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
The reporting came just as Mr Trump warned “everyone in Tehran to evacuate”. The nuclear sites being threatened with bunker busters are not in Tehran, but Trump’s words are designed to stoke tension, to confuse and to apply intense pressure.
His actions are too. He left the G7 in Canada early and asked his teams to gather in the White House Situation Room.
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Trump: ‘I want an end, not a ceasefire’
This is a game of smoke, mirrors, brinkmanship and – maybe – bluff. In Tehran, what’s left of the leadership is watching and reading closely as they consider what’s next.
Maybe the Supreme Leader and his regime’s days are numbered. Things remain very unpredictable.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
From history, though, regime change, even when it comes with a plan – and there is certainly not one here, spells civil war and from that comes a refugee crisis.
These are truly tense and chaotic times.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
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