Michael Gove says the House of Lords could move to GLASGOW as part of the Government’s ‘levelling up’ plan as he unveils raft of policies to help forgotten areas and boost life expectancy – but admits Rishi Sunak did not give him all the cash he asked for
- Michael Gove is set to unveil government’s long-awaited levelling up white paper
- The 400-page strategy includes 12 ‘missions to level up the UK’ over eight years
- Boris Johnson said the plan amounted to a ‘moral mission’ to spread opportunity across the country by 2030
- Includes commitment to raise average ‘healthy life expectancy’ by five years
- Mr Gove said that the House of Lords could move to Glasgow under the shake-up
- Cabinet minister admitted he did not get all the cash he wanted from Rishi Sunak
Michael Gove has suggested the House of Lords could move to Glasgow as part of the Government’s new ‘Levelling Up’ plan which is being unveiled today.
The Levelling Up Secretary is setting out his vision to deliver on Boris Johnson’s 2019 general election pledge to improve life in left-behind areas.
One of the key aims will be to ensure the average adult will be able to enjoy five more years of healthy life by 2035.
Mr Gove will publish his policy white paper this afternoon after saying this morning that people in the North of England and the Midlands have been ‘overlooked and undervalued for years’ by politicians.
The Cabinet minister rejected claims from critics that the Government is reheating old policies and previously announced cash but admitted he had not got all the money he had asked for from Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Meanwhile, he said the House of Lords could temporarily move to Glasgow or York when Parliament is being renovated.
Mr Johnson yesterday pledged that the ‘Levelling Up’ plan amounted to an eight-year ‘moral mission’ to spread opportunity across the country by 2030.
The 400-page strategy covers almost every aspect of life from literacy levels and life expectancy to jobs, bus services and street cleaning, with detailed pledges and targets in each area.
It sets out 12 ‘missions to level up the UK’, including striking pledges to make the country happier and healthier.
Michael Gove will today unveil the long-awaited levelling up white paper, which aims to make a reality of the Prime Minister’s election-winning promise to improve life in left-behind areas of the North and Midlands. One part of a 12-point plan will be to improve local bus and rail services in every part of the country
The 400-page strategy covers almost every aspect of life from literacy levels and life expectancy to jobs, bus services and street cleaning, with detailed pledges and targets in each area
Mr Gove told Sky News this morning that people in the North of England and the Midlands have been ‘overlooked and undervalued for years’ by successive governments.
He said the ‘Brexit referendum was a wake-up call’, telling the broadcaster: ‘As well as a clear commandment to leave the European Union it was also a way of saying to people in SW1, people like me, ‘look, it’s vital that you change the economic model of this country. It’s all very well if people are in London and the Southeast in financial services and others do well, we don’t begrudge that. But you’ve got to listen to us’.’
Mr Gove said mistakes had been made by ‘parties of both colours’ and that ‘one of the things in the past is there have been sincere and committed attempts by politicians left and right to deal with this’.
‘But nothing as comprehensive or as long-term as the plan that we’re setting out today,’ he said.
Mr Gove raised the prospect of the House of Lords moving out of London as an example of levelling up.
He told Times Radio: ‘We’ve got our friends in the House of Lords who will have to move out of their current building, at the moment, because of the renovation of the Palace of Westminster.
‘I think it’d be a really good thing if the House of Lords were to meet for at least part of the time in Glasgow or in York. I think it would do us all good.’
Mr Gove defended the amount of money the Government is spending on levelling up, telling the BBC: ‘What we’re doing is we’re taking numbers from a Treasury spreadsheet and transforming it into real change in people’s lives.
‘The Chancellor, in the Spending Review, outlined significant increases in public spending in a range of areas – in transport, in support for local government, in education, and health and social care.
‘That was money put in, if you like, in departmental bank accounts, and now we are spending that money and it’s being allocated to the mayors and other local leaders who are best placed to drive change in their own communities.’
Asked if he had pushed for more money from the Chancellor but was denied, the Levelling Up Secretary said: ‘I did ask the Chancellor for a lot and he gave it to me, that was what was happening in the Spending Review.’
Asked if he had got all the money he wanted, he said: ‘Well, in this life we never get everything we want, but, in the words of Mick Jagger, you might not always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.’
Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said the Government’s plan lacked ambition.
She said: ‘Ministers have had two and a half years to get this right and all we been given is more slogans and strategies, with few new ideas.
‘Boris Johnson’s answer to our communities calling for change is to shuffle the deckchairs – new government structures, recycled pots of money and a small refund on the money this Government have taken from us.
‘This is not what we were promised. We deserve far more ambition this.’
Mr Gove’s dossier includes a commitment to narrow the yawning gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas – and an eye-catching pledge to raise average ‘healthy life expectancy’ by five years by 2035.
The 400-page strategy will look to give renters a ‘secure path to ownership’, increasing the number of first-time buyers and to halve the number of shoddy homes currently rented out
The new plan also pledges to make people happier, with targets for improving ‘wellbeing’ and action to improve community pride, including investment in town centres and local culture. There are plans to improve maths and literacy rates in the worst primary schools by a third
Healthy life expectancy, which measures the years before ill health starts to take its toll, stands at an average 62.9 years for men and 63.4 years for women.
Regional variations in overall life expectancy vary widely, with a gap of more than ten years for men and more than eight years for women between the least and most healthy areas.
Blackpool has the lowest life expectancy in England, with men living an average 74.1 years compared to 84.7 years in Westminster – a gap government sources described as a ‘gross disparity’.
The new plan also pledges to make people happier, with targets for improving ‘wellbeing’ and action to improve community pride, including investment in town centres and local culture.
Mr Gove last night said the project was vital to convincing new Tory voters to stick with the Government, adding: ‘Unless we are the Government for levelling up, we will fail the people who voted for us.’
The PM told the Cabinet yesterday that levelling up was the Government’s ‘moral mission’.
Last night he said that the Government’s aim was to ‘break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities’.
Warning that change would take time, he added: ‘The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight but this white paper is the next crucial step.
‘It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen.’
Another eye-catching policy is gigabit broadband and 4G for all, with 5G for ‘the majority’ of people
Critics have pointed out that Mr Sunak blocked the release of more money for the launch of today’s plan.
But officials last night stressed £4.8billion has already been committed to levelling up this Parliament, with much of the cash yet to be allocated.
Mr Gove also said that the sweeping ambition of the plan meant that almost all government departments would have to devote time and resources to it, including more money for tackling health, crime and unemployment. He said it would require a ‘whole of government effort’.
He told the BBC: ‘There is going to be a shift both of power and money away from London and the South East, towards the North and Midlands.
‘For too long our country’s been over centralised and you’ve had the elites in London, who haven’t really understood all of the problems that people in communities like Grimsby and Cleethorpes face.’
The new plan will be accompanied by a range of targets to allow people to measure performance. The Government will commit to producing an annual report setting out progress in each area.
Boris’ 12-point plan to even out Britain by the 2030s
1. JOBS
Improve pay, employment and productivity in every area of the UK – but also narrow the gap between the best and worst performing areas.
2. RESEARCH
Refocus research and development funding, with spending outside the South East rising by 40 per cent – and a target of attracting £2 of private money for every pound spent by the taxpayer.
3. TRANSPORT
Improve local bus and rail services in every part of the country to bring standards ‘significantly closer’ to those in London, including the introduction of Oyster-style ticketing used in the capital.
4. TECHNOLOGY
Gigabit broadband and 4G for all, with 5G for ‘the majority’ of people.
5. EDUCATION
Improving maths and literacy rates in the worst primary schools by a third to ensure 90 per cent of all children reach expected standards by the age of 11.
6. SKILLS
Boost adult skills by ensuring that around an extra 200,000 people a year complete high-quality training.
7. HEALTH
Raise ‘healthy life expectancy’ by five years by 2035 and narrow the yawning gap between the most and least healthy parts of the country.
8. HAPPINESS
Improve ‘well-being’ in every area of the UK and help the worst performing areas catch up.
9. LOCAL PRIDE
Boost people’s ‘pride in place’, by improving town centres and local culture.
10. HOUSING
Give renters a ‘secure path to ownership’, increasing the number of first-time buyers. Halve the number of shoddy homes currently rented out.
11. CRIME
Cut murder, violent crime and antisocial behaviour across the country, with a particular focus on improving life in the most crime-ridden neighbourhoods.
12. MAYORS
Local devolution with elected county mayors for all areas that want London-style control over issues like transport.
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