Businesses believe Michael Gove’s levelling-up plans don’t go far enough

There are elements that have gained cautious support but many are not convinced by the scope of the plans, argues James Moore

Michael Gove has unveiled the government’s long-awaited plan to achieve its levelling-up agenda (PA)

The reality behind the politics of levelling up is that it doesn’t matter to businesses and their employees if the government’s plans were picked up from Theresa May’s discard pile, as it appears they may have been.

It doesn’t matter if they were written on the back of a cigarette packet by a couple of civil servants and ministers attending one of Downing Street’s many lockdown parties.

The £6m, £6bn, or whatever the funding ultimately turns out to be is one thing – the question is, will it work? Will it improve things? Will it help Smith & Family Metal Bashing Plc get a factory built in, say, Carlisle if it needs one. Can the CEO be sure there’ll be the people there with the skills she needs to get it rolling and deliver a stack of good, well-paying, jobs?