Reeves plans revival of Johnson's levelling up plan to counter Reform

Telegraph

3 days ago

Rachel Reeves is planning to revive Boris Johnson's levelling up agenda to take on Reform.
The Chancellor is overseeing changes to Treasury spending rules that prioritise investment in the most productive parts of the UK.
A rewriting of the Green Book used by Treasury officials will see more money directed to Red Wall constituencies where Labour has fallen behind Nigel Farage's party.
The change could come as soon as next month in the Spending Review, according to The Times.
Labour is now in second place in many of the party's former heartland seats in the north of England.
After the 2019 election, at which those Red Wall areas fell to the Conservatives, Mr Johnson announced plans for similar changes to Treasury spending rules to send more investment to the north.
Many of those constituencies flipped back to Labour at last year's general election but are now at risk of falling to Reform, polling shows.
A survey by Merlin Strategy this week found that almost half of voters in those areas disapprove of Labour's benefits reforms, while polling at national level shows Reform is ahead of Labour by 11 points.
In Doncaster, previously a safe Labour area, Reform won the most council seats at this month's local elections. The party also picked up the new mayoralties of Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.
The Green Book changes could direct tens of billions of investment into infrastructure, energy and regeneration projects in the North of England.
The approach is similar to Mr Johnson's attempt to woo Red Wall voters. He renamed the housing department the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and created pots of high street regeneration investment that was allocated to northern constituencies.
That name was scrapped by Labour in July and replaced with the previous title, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Ms Reeves is likely to have around £100 billion of investment spending to distribute to projects across the UK in her June 11 announcement, despite a wider departmental spending squeeze. Labour's fiscal rules allow the Chancellor to borrow money if it will be invested, but not if it will be used for day-to-day spending.
The projects are likely to focus on Labour's priority areas of economic growth, green energy and healthcare.
During last year's election campaign, Sir Keir Starmer promised that he would make life better for voters in all parts of the country. Downing Street has since launched an anti-Reform strategy focused on 'delivery', which includes more action on potholes.
But Labour's political team now consider Reform to be the Government's main opposition, while the Conservatives languish in fourth place in some polls.
In a speech on Thursday, Sir Keir described Mr Farage as 'Liz Truss all over again' and told workers: 'You cannot trust Farage with your future and your jobs.'
'Unlike Nigel Farage, I know what it's like growing up in a cost of living crisis. I know what it's like when your family can't pay the bills, when you fear the postman, the bills that may be brought.'