Ben Bradley MP and 9 Conservative MPs from the East Midlands have written to the Prime Minister urging him to “fast-track the Levelling Up Bill” to help them win their seats in the General Election, asking him to “Let us, and our brilliant East Midlands residents and businesses, become the trailblazers for what devolution can do for the prosperity of our great country.”
In the letter, organised by Ben Bradley MP (who is also leader of Nottinghamshire County Council), the ten backbench 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.”
They warn that “If the government fails to pass this law…urgently, before the Summer…our opportunity to size this chance and deliver tangible, real world benefits to our constituents ahead of the next General Election will be lost.”
They continue:
“We 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.
They also warn that the £1.14bn of funding secured for the East Midlands by Ben Bradley and fellow council leaders will also be put at risk: “It’s all there, ready and waiting to be put into action to improve the lives of our constituents, yet this opportunity and vital local investment will all be put at risk if we don’t pass this law.”
The 10 MPs also took aim at the preferential treatment being given to regional mayors such as Andy Burnham in Manchester, warning that “if we are to truly level up then our region needs to be catching up, not watching the West Midlands and Greater Manchester accelerate further in to the distance.”
They continued:
“Further, passing the Levelling Up Bill is an opportunity to ensure that English Devolution cannot be defined by left-leaning politicians that are least capable of capitalising on what it offers. Andy Burnham’s proposals for a workplace parking levy, and additional taxes on cars and 'clean air', are the very opposite of what our communities need during these cost-of-living challenges, and fly in the face of our vision for post-Brexit Britain. Without the Levelling Up Bill empowering other regions of England, like the East Midlands, to lead by example, Andy Burnham will continue acting as a “trailblazer” implementing policies we know are harmful to people’s lives.”
To address this, they asked for a “blueprint for increasing the range and scale of powers available to the East Midlands” to be set out as part of the Bill, “helping us to catch up with those powers that Greater Manchester and the West Midlands already have, and so that the opportunities and “levers” for East Midlands residents are brought into line with those of other regions. We can’t level up with the rest of the country if we’re not given the same powers as the rest of the country.”
