IN a speech that was billed as a major update on Boris Johnson's "levelling up" agenda, the Prime Minister conceded that it offered only the "skeleton" of his plans for the UK.
Earlier today, Johnson gave a speech where the main takeaway was that he wants to take "a more flexible approach to devolution in England" with plans to give local leaders fresh powers but offered few new details on his ambitions for the whole of the UK.
In the speech at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry, the Prime Minister said local leaders in towns should be “given the tools to make things happen for their communities”.
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“We need to rewrite the rulebook with new deals for the counties and there is no reason why our great counties cannot benefit from the same powers we’ve devolved to city leaders.”
But he cautioned “we must get the right local leadership” so there cannot be a “one size fits all template”, as he criticised the “looney left”.
“One possibility is a directly elected mayor for individual counties. And if you can think of a better title than mayor for somebody who represents a county then please send me an email,” he added.
He reiterated commitments to rolling out gigabit broadband, investing in rail and roads, giving the guarantee of “great education” to all children, and boosting funding for science and technology and tackling crime.
Brexit received just one mention, with a pledge to create jobs by using new freedoms such as the ability to build freeports.
In the press conference, Johnson was asked where his clear strategy is for levelling up the UK.
“I am respectfully going to urge you to just go back over some of what I said because I do think that in all fairness there was at least the skeleton of what to do,” the Prime Minister responded.
The speech was billed as a major update on the much-anticipated levelling up agenda from Johnson's government but appeared to lack the detail promised.
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The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford described levelling up as a "slogan without substance", adding: "Scotland is an afterthought for this Prime Minister. It is England he is speaking to. Scotland is shut out and ignored when it comes to our priorities."
Scotland is an afterthought for this Prime Minister. It is England he is speaking to. Scotland is shut out and ignored when it comes to our priorities. https://t.co/3CsxzhkcN2
— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) July 15, 2021
Dan O'Donoghue, the Westminster correspondent for the north of Scotland daily newspaper the Press and Journal, wrote: "Quite telling that in a speech which promised to set out Boris Johnson's 'vision to level up the United Kingdom', the prime minister refers to Newcastle as the 'north-east of our country'....Aberdeen is the north-east fella."
Blackford later added: "For all the meaningless empty rhetoric, the fact remains that levels of poverty and inequality in the UK have risen to record levels on Boris Johnson's watch - and planned UK Government austerity cuts will make this growing Tory poverty crisis even worse.
"You can't level up by making millions of people poorer - but that is exactly what will happen as a result of Tory plans to impose a public sector pay freeze and slash Universal Credit by £1040 for six million families.
"It is now clear beyond doubt that the Tory government has absolutely no intention of building a fair recovery. The only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory cuts is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to secure a strong, fair and equal recovery."
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Former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings was quick to point out the true nature of "levelling up", describing it as a "vapid SW1 slogan" similar to Global Britain.
Cummings tweeted: "Crap speech (same he's given pointlessly umpteen times) supporting crap slogan, buried by their own food report which no10 having to knock down, all news lines now effectively like Dre's old Random Announcement Generator... SNAFU... Not staff fault: just Trolley Gvt."
Today grid: crap speech (same he's given pointlessly umpteen times) supporting crap slogan, buried by their own food report which no10 having to knock down, all news lines now effectively like Dre's old Random Announcement Generator... SNAFU... Not staff fault: just Trolley Gvt
— Dominic Cummings (@Dominic2306) July 15, 2021
He then added that the "levelling up" slogan wasn't the product of "any thought of any kind".
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We can’t level up the country without levelling up at work.
“This pandemic has brutally exposed the terrible working conditions, low pay and insecurity many of our key workers face.
“So far, there has been precious little to show for the Government’s vaunted levelling up agenda, and today’s speech will do little to change that.
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“With more than one million children of key worker households in poverty and 3.6m workers stuck in insecure jobs, it’s time the Government moved on from empty soundbites.
“Ministers must invest in good green jobs in industries of the future, ban zero-hours contracts and give all of our key workers a pay rise.
“They must invest in warmer homes, faster broadband and better public transport links across the country. That’s how we level up the UK.”
Elsewhere, journalist Paul Johnson said "levelling up" now joins the list of other "empty slogans".
-So 'levelling up' joins the other empty slogans
— Paul Johnson (@paul__johnson) July 15, 2021
-Global Britain
-Take back control
-Build back better
-Brexit means Brexit
-Oven-ready #Brexit
-Follow the science
-Data not dates#LevellingUp
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