The real economic problem with the levelling-up con job

Ministers spending £50m on an Eden Project in Morecambe, where the local council is facing painful cuts to services, exposes the flaw in the policy, writes James Moore

Levelling up is bringing the Eden Project (pictured) to Morecambe, where the local council is grappling with a £4.2m budget black hole (Getty)

Levelling up is back, and so is the controversy about North-South fairness. The Tories just can’t seem to shake that, even with slickly professional Rishi Sunak at the helm.

The latest fuss has been sparked by Labour accusations that more of the £2.1bn second round of the government’s levelling up fund is going on projects in the prosperous South of England as opposed to the economically disadvantaged North.

“Levelling up” was adopted as a manifesto pledge by Boris Johnson to reward red-wall voters with cash for schemes to help economically disadvantaged communities.