Town Centre Regeneration Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)
1. What steps he is taking to support local leaders in regenerating
high streets and town centres.(900015) Kate Griffiths (Burton)
(Con) 20. What steps his Department is taking to help support the
regeneration of towns and high streets.(900037) The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
(Neil O’Brien) Regenerating our high streets and town...Request free trial
Town Centre Regeneration
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Con)
1. What steps he is taking to support local leaders in
regenerating high streets and town centres.(900015)
(Burton) (Con)
20. What steps his Department is taking to help support the
regeneration of towns and high streets.(900037)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (Neil O’Brien)
Regenerating our high streets and town centres is essential to
the Government’s commitment to levelling up the country. The
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill includes measures to tackle
vacant properties, improve compulsory purchase powers and make
temporary pavement licensing permanent. It builds on the
comprehensive funding package already announced, including the
£3.6 billion towns and future high streets funds, the £4.8
billion levelling-up fund and the recently launched £2.6 billion
shared prosperity fund.
I thank the Minister and the whole Cabinet for visiting
Stoke-on-Trent last week. In towns across Stoke-on-Trent,
encouraging new uses of property on our high streets has often
been held back by complex ownership and the council not having
the resources to tackle the issues. What more are the Government
doing both to incentivise property owners to bring derelict
spaces back into use and to make it easier to use enforcement
powers where owners prove unwilling to do so?
Neil O’Brien
My hon. Friend is completely correct. It was a pleasure to join
the Cabinet meeting in Stoke last week and talk about how we
drive forward regeneration there. Stoke is really powering ahead,
and the measures in the Levelling-up and Regeneration
Bill—particularly those to reform compulsory purchase orders and
crack down on empty shops—will help things go even faster. That
is in addition to the specialised support that Stoke-on-Trent is
receiving through the high streets task force. I have also set up
a meeting next month with all the infrastructure and regeneration
bodies across Government to plan how we can build on Stoke’s
three levelling-up fund successes.
Burton town deal board has worked hard over the past two years in
putting together a town deal we can be proud of. It is clear that
constituents are passionate about our town, and they have worked
with the board to ensure that the final plan will offer a great
future for Burton. The plan has now been submitted. Can my hon.
Friend offer any thoughts on Burton’s plans, and can he give an
indication of when approval might be granted so that we can crack
on with levelling up in our area?
Neil O’Brien
I praise the proactive approach that East Staffordshire Borough
Council has taken, which includes working cross-party to build
consensus. Its plans for the riverside regeneration in particular
will be absolutely transformative. The business case documents
are currently being reviewed by officials, and I hope to be able
to sign those off shortly so that the projects can get under
way.
(Rhondda) (Lab)
The Rhondda is absolutely beautiful, but some of our town centres
are let down by hideous old buildings which, frankly, do not need
any levelling up; they need some levelling down. So will the
Minister please put in place a levelling-down fund that will
allow us to destroy some buildings, such as the bingo hall in
Hannah Street in Porth?
Neil O’Brien
At the same time as making an amusing point, the hon. Gentleman
makes a very important point. The powers for compulsory purchase
will help to unlock sites, including sites that the hon.
Gentleman mentions which need fundamental change. The funding
schemes we have put in place—the shared prosperity fund and so
on—will help put financial firepower behind those regeneration
schemes, too.
(Kingston upon Hull West and
Hessle) (Lab)
One way to regenerate high streets is to repurpose old retail
units as co-working spaces, and increasing the number of remote
jobs available means people do not have to leave the place they
love for the job they want. Would the Minister, and indeed any
Member across the House, like to come to my Work Hull: Work Happy
event on 23 June at 11 am to find out more about the benefits of
remote working for productivity and opportunity?
Neil O’Brien
It sounds extremely interesting, and I would be very interested
in coming along. The hon. Lady is completely correct that remote
working is potentially a really powerful driver for levelling up,
and some of the measures in the Levelling-up and Regeneration
Bill, such as repurposing shops through the high street rental
auction scheme, can potentially be really transformative for our
high streets.
Building Remediation Costs
(Rochester and Strood)
(Con)
2. What steps he is taking to ensure that leaseholders do not
have to pay for remediation work in buildings where the developer
is at fault.(900016)
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations ()
The Building Safety Act 2022 protects leaseholders from costs
associated with historical building safety defects. Qualifying
leaseholders and buildings of above 11 metres in height are fully
protected from unsafe cladding remediation costs. There are also
robust and far-reaching protections from non-cladding costs, with
leaseholder contributions being a last resort and firmly capped.
Where a freeholder is linked to the original developer,
leaseholders will now pay nothing.
Leaseholders in my constituency have been pleased with the
progress that has been made through the Building Safety Act.
However, it is disappointing that some developers are yet to sign
up to the building safety pledge. Could my right hon. Friend
outline what support is in place for leaseholders in buildings of
over 11 metres who find themselves in that situation?
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that particular
question. Some 45 of the biggest 53 developers have so far signed
the pledge to remediate buildings for which they are responsible.
However, I know there are developments in my hon. Friend’s
constituency where the developers are not among those who have
signed up yet. We will be moving developer by developer and owner
by owner to ensure that those responsible relieve leaseholders of
their obligations, and I will stay closely in touch with my hon.
Friend as we make progress.
(Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
We have all had cases where a developer who is at fault closes
down on a Friday evening and then reopens on the Monday morning
under a different name, as that avoids any kind of sanction or
prosecution. Will the Secretary of State look at allowing the
prosecution of individual directors only in those extreme cases
of deeply questionable developers?
Yes, absolutely.
(New Forest East) (Con)
My right hon. Friend has done excellent work on protecting
leaseholders over the cladding scandal as a result of revisiting
Government policy. Will he revisit another Government policy that
affects leaseholders badly: the encouragement of building new
floors on top of existing apartment blocks? Having experienced
this disaster myself, I know only too well how shoddy workmanship
then leaves leaseholders picking up the bills for a development
that they did not want and they had to endure for months on
end.
My right hon. Friend has, with his characteristic assiduity,
already raised this question with me both formally and
informally, and I appreciate the unfortunate consequences that
some have to face, but we obviously need to balance protecting
the rights of leaseholders with ensuring that, through the proper
application of permitted development rights we can in a sensitive
way increase accommodation and make sure that we have a process,
particularly in urban areas, that allows us to provide more homes
without encroaching on valuable green land. As ever, however, we
need to keep under appropriate supervision the use of permitted
development rights, and the case my right hon. Friend raises will
be one that weighs on my thinking.
(Cambridge) (Lab)
The Secretary of State will know that an associated problem for
many leaseholders is the very high cost of insurance premiums;
that affects many of my constituents in Cambridge. What is he
doing to address that?
My noble Friend , Minister for building
safety and for fire safety, has been in conversation with the
Association of British Insurers, and of Cotes has been
discussing with him exactly how we might move to a happier
situation. I hope to be talking to both insurers and mortgage
lenders in the next few weeks in order to move the landscape
forward.
(Lichfield) (Con)
I greatly welcome the legislation that will protect leaseholders
when developers are at fault, but what happens if a developer
undertakes work, such as cladding, which at the time met building
regulations but subsequently has been shown to be unsafe? Who
gets protection then?
My hon. Friend raises an important question, and here I have an
opportunity to thank those developers, as well as the House
Builders Federation, who have acknowledged that they were part of
a regulatory system and that even those who sought to do the
right thing were on occasions required to accept an ethic of
shared responsibility; they have accepted it and for that reason
leaseholders, who have no responsibility and no blame to
shoulder, are protected.
Shared Prosperity Fund
(Glenrothes) (SNP)
3. What recent discussions he has had with elected members in the
devolved Administrations on the (a) equity and (b) transparency
of the UK shared prosperity fund. (900017)
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations ()
The United Kingdom Government have engaged with each of the
devolved Administrations on the design of the UK shared
prosperity fund both at official and ministerial levels, and our
engagement with Ministers from the devolved Administrations in
the weeks leading up to the publication of the UKSPF allocation
helped to inform the most appropriate mix of interventions and
specifically the allocations for each nation.
No doubt one thing that will have been raised in those
discussions is the fact that this year Scotland’s share will be
£151 million less than we would have got in EU structural funds
had we not been dragged out of the EU against our will, despite
the fact that both the Tory party manifesto in 2019 and a
personal pledge from the Secretary of State at the Holyrood
Finance and Public Administration Committee earlier this year
assured us we would get at least as much as would have come from
the European Union. Why have those two promises been broken, and,
most importantly, what has happened to Scotland’s missing £151
million?
The normally pertinacious Member is misinformed: it is the case
that Scotland receives just as much. I fear he is probably
missing out the money Scotland receives from the European Union
as a result of money we gave to the EU, and as funding slowly
moves down, the great thing about leaving the EU is that we have
control of how these funds are spent; we can decide how they are
spent. If the hon. Member wants to take us back into the European
Union perhaps he will explain to voters in Scotland why he wants
to take us back into the common fisheries policy, why he wants to
abandon the trade deals we have secured that benefit Scotland’s
distillers and farmers, and why he wants power to be exercised by
unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels rather than elected
representatives here.
Planning Policy Reform
(Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
4. What steps his Department is taking to reform planning policy.
(900018)
(Crawley) (Con)
8. What steps his Department is taking to give residents greater
input on local developments. (900022)
(Wantage) (Con)
17. What steps his Department is taking to give residents greater
input on local developments. (900034)
The Minister for Housing ()
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill will improve our planning
system and give residents more involvement in local development.
The Bill will strengthen and scale up neighbourhood planning and
enable the piloting of street votes supported by new digital
tools to give communities more say in the developments that
affect them.
The 2020 White Paper promised us a once-in-a-generation reform to
planning policy. The present proposals appear somewhat
unambitious and modest in contrast. Can I meet the Minister so he
can explain to me how we can deal with the following situation in
my constituency? Wealden and Rother District Councils have issued
10,000 planning permissions that have not been built out, and yet
they still have to deliver 2,000 new homes between them each
year. The developers responsible for building the homes deliver
only 1,000 new homes. Surely, at the very least, we can have
annual housing targets that take into account houses that are not
yet built out, so that developers build rather than land
bank.
I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend. There are measures
in the Bill to try to address build-out rates, which are an
important element that we have to tackle. Under the Bill, it will
be necessary to supply the local authority with a commencement
notice, an agreement on the number of houses that will be built
each year and a completion notice. We are absolutely on this, and
I assure my hon. Friend that we will do everything we can to
ensure that the houses that have got permission are built.
I welcome the Government’s reform of the planning system, but
Homes England proposes the development of up to 10,000 houses on
flood-prone green fields to the west of Ifield, just outside my
constituency. That will put unacceptable pressure on local
infrastructure, and although local people in my constituency will
be most affected, they have no say over it. How will these
planning proposals allow the people of Crawley to say no to the
West of Ifield development?
I am absolutely clear that communities must have a say on
developments that affect them, and that is why we are making it
easier and simpler to engage with the planning system. At the
moment, it simply is not good enough. I recognise the specific
concerns that my hon. Friend and the leader of Crawley Borough
Council have raised about this development. The site itself is
included in the Horsham draft plan that has been produced with
Crawley council. Residents of Crawley are able to comment on
that, as well as on any subsequent planning applications.
Constituents object not simply to the sheer number of
developments in my constituency and the pressure that they place
on local infrastructure, but to the environmental impact of the
way the homes are constructed. My hon. Friend knows that I would
like to see a requirement for homes to be built to the latest
environmental standard, rather than the one that was in place
when permission was granted. Can he tell the House whether local
communities will be able to have a say on how the homes are
constructed, rather than just what they look like from the
outside?
My hon. Friend is right to raise that. It is a crucial area for
me in this role, and I hope that he will be reassured that
improving environmental standards and community engagement are
key elements of our reforms. Clear local plans, tested against
environmental outcomes and with strong community input, are
central to that, alongside the steps we are taking through the
future homes standard and the Environment Act 2021.
Mr Speaker
We come to the Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Committee, .
(Sheffield South East)
(Lab)
We look forward to seeing the Minister and the Secretary of State
at the Select Committee to discuss these matters early after the
recess. It seems there are some genuine improvements in the
proposals, particularly, as described in paragraphs 50 and 60 of
the explanatory notes, the clauses that give greater strength to
local plans in looking at individual planning applications.
There are two areas where the Bill might be strengthened. The
first refers back to what the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle
() said. Yes, developers will have to set out what
they intend to build, but what sanctions will the local authority
have if developers do not follow those promises? The second is
about what happens if a developer does not observe conditions
attached to a planning permission. That has happened with Avant
Homes at Owlthorpe in my constituency—I have talked to the
Minister about this—where the developer is refusing to comply
with a whole range of conditions, including on wheel washers,
compounds for workers and engaging with the local tenants’
association. I notice that the other day, the Daily Mail drew
attention to the fact that the same developer has not met
conditions in Nottinghamshire. What sanctions will the local
authority have to deal with a developer in such a situation and
to take into account those failures when a future planning
permission is put in for?
I am grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee and for the
reports that fed into many of the changes we have made. He is
right to raise those issues. One issue communities see far too
often, and the reason why they are sometimes opposed to
development, is that they do not actually get what was promised
at the beginning. I am really keen that, through the Bill, we
give that power back to local communities and ensure
neighbourhood plans are strengthened.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
York is being overrun by investors hoovering up our new build by
either leaving those properties empty or using them for Airbnb.
That is causing the market to heat up, which is having a really
disruptive impact and choking off opportunity for future buyers
in my constituency. How will the Minister use his planning
reforms to ensure we are not just building to numbers, but to
local need?
The hon. Lady is right. The reforms are about empowering local
communities to develop local plans and engage with the
development of those local plans to identify the housing needs of
each area. She is right to raise the issue on second homes and
Airbnb. As I said to her the other day in the meeting we had, I
look forward to potentially hosting a roundtable with her and
colleagues around North Yorkshire to address those very
issues.
(Warwick and Leamington)
(Lab)
On the point the Minister was making about developers or planners
going back on previous agreements or advice, I have a case in
South Leamington, which was consulted on six years ago, where we
were to have social and truly affordable housing built on a
particular site. As of last week, that has been changed and we
will have 80 units with 92 beds in more or less the same space.
Will he meet me to discuss that matter and will he explain how
the planning changes will ensure communities get what they want,
which is truly affordable housing?
Of course, I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss
the issue he raises. The whole point of the Bill is to strengthen
the development of local plans in the first place, so local
planning authorities can address the housing needs they have in
their area, including the types of housing they need; and to
strengthen enforcement issues around planning applications. I am
more than happy to speak to him further to understand the issue
in greater detail.
Access to Employment: Rural Areas
(North Shropshire) (LD)
5. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on taking
steps to improve access to employment for those without car
access in (a) North Shropshire and (b) other rural areas as part
of the levelling-up agenda. (900019)
The Minister for Levelling Up Communities ()
The levelling-up fund announced at the last spending review saw
£1.7 billion awarded to 105 successful projects across the UK,
including projects to improve access to employment for those
without the use of a car in rural areas.
Market Drayton and a number of other towns in North Shropshire
are seeing cuts to their bus services, with Market Drayton set to
lose them all together at weekends. It has received none of the
funding that it has applied for to date, including from the Bus
Back Better fund. Like many other towns across Britain, its
beautiful high street is struggling to recover from the pandemic.
For such towns that have been unsuccessful in their bids so far,
and where people are struggling to get in and out of them, what
is the Government’s plan to level them up?
The hon. Lady needs to work with her local transport
authority—that would be Shropshire Council—to look into resolving
those issues. The pandemic had a huge impact on the delivery of
local services and the Government provided nearly £1.86 billion
in grant funding for bus services in England. Shropshire Council
received about £2.17 million of that, so I encourage her to speak
to the council to see what it, along with commercial bus
operators, can do.
Economic Growth
(Waveney) (Con)
6. What steps his Department is taking to support economic growth
across the UK. (900020)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (Neil O'Brien)
Our levelling-up White Paper sets out our plans to support
economic growth across the whole of the UK. Since September 2020,
we have allocated more than £7 billion through our levelling-up
funds, including the recently announced allocation for the shared
prosperity fund.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer. Coastal
communities such as Lowestoft and Waveney are the forgotten
powerhouse of the UK economy. Can my hon. Friend confirm that the
opportunities and challenges they face will be given the highest
priority as the Government set about delivering their
levelling-up agenda, and will the money from the Crown Estate
that was originally used for the coastal communities fund be
targeted at realising the full potential of coastal areas and
meeting their needs?
Neil O’Brien
I have met my hon. Friend about this issue several times and I
agree that coastal communities have the potential to be real
powerhouses for our economy. That is why the future high streets
fund has allocated £149 million to coastal local authorities, and
why coastal local authorities got £287 million of funding in the
first round of the levelling-up fund. That comes on top of the
£229 million, which he mentioned, that we have invested in
coastal towns and communities since 2012 through the coastal
communities fund.
Mr Speaker
We come to the shadow Secretary of State, .
(Wigan) (Lab)
Look, can the Minister not see the crisis unfolding across the
country? There has been the biggest fall in living standards
since the 1950s. Pensioners are boarding buses just to keep warm.
On every measure, the gap is widening; there is less for the
regions, in terms of public spending; salaries are falling; homes
are less affordable; and local economies are on the verge of
collapse. Surely he recognises how absurd it is that all we have
had from the Secretary of State in the past week is the promise
of an al fresco dining revolution, and three full pages of
legislation giving us the power to rename our Mayors. What
exactly is stopping the Government scrapping business rates,
bringing in a windfall tax to cut money off energy bills,
uprating benefits now, rather than waiting till later, or doing
any of the things that will get money back into people’s pockets
and get our economy growing?
Neil O’Brien
The hon. Lady could also have mentioned the fact that our
national living wage, which this Government introduced, is
putting £1,000 extra in the pockets of working people. She could
have mentioned the changes to universal credit, which will make
full-time workers £1,000 better off. She could have mentioned the
record increase in the national insurance threshold, which will
make nearly 30 million households better off, or any of the other
measures that we are taking through the levelling-up agenda: the
£4.8 billion being spent through the levelling-up fund; the £3.6
billion being spent through the towns fund; and the £2.6 billion
that is helping to transform town centres across the country. I
notice none of those things got a mention in her question.
It is increasingly as though the Government are living on a
completely different planet. The other day, the Secretary of
State was in Stoke, which has had £35 million taken off it by
him—that money used to flow freely back to us via Brussels—and
£20 million stripped out of the local economy because the
Government scrapped the £20 million universal credit uplift.
The bigger problem is that a pattern is emerging. The Secretary
of State could not get money from the Chancellor. He could not
get visas from the Home Secretary. He could not convince his
former junior Ministers to stop closures of Department for Work
and Pensions offices in the north. He could not even persuade his
civil servants working on levelling up to move out of London. For
all the nonsense that there has been, two thirds of his civil
servants working on levelling up are trying to level us up from
the capital. At least now he knows what it is like for the rest
of us—in the north, Scotland, the midlands, Wales and the
south-west—to be treated with total contempt by a bunch of
Ministers in Whitehall. Seriously, what hope has he got of
convincing us in this country that he can level us up when he
cannot even convince a single one of his colleagues around the
Cabinet table?
Neil O’Brien
I thank the hon. Lady for drawing attention to the Cabinet’s
visit to Stoke the other day; if she had been a Government Back
Bencher, people would accuse her of toadying for teeing up this
answer so brilliantly. She mentioned several things that allow me
to mention the three successful levelling-up bids that we have
had in Stoke, and she mentioned the shared prosperity fund, about
which I will make a point. Under the last Labour Government,
money was decided on in Brussels and then given to remote
regional development agencies. That money is now going directly,
with no strings attached, to the fantastic Conservative-run
council in Stoke, which is transforming the fortunes of that city
after years of Labour neglect.
Mr Speaker
I call the Scottish National party spokesperson, .
(North Ayrshire and Arran)
(SNP)
Despite the bullish posturing, the Minister knows that households
across the UK are suffering terrible hardship because of the cost
of living crisis, which has the Tories’ name written all over it.
Despite the rhetoric, the reality is that Scotland’s resource
budget allocation has been cut by Westminster by 5.2%, and the
capital budget allocation has been cut by Westminster by 9.7% in
real terms. How can he claim to support economic growth across
the UK when the Scottish Government’s ability to support
business, investment and people through the cost of living crisis
can only be severely constrained by these cuts?
Neil O’Brien
The hon. Lady talks about Scottish public spending. The truth is
that the record block grant that Scotland has just received is
the biggest settlement since devolution—it is huge. For every
£100 of spending elsewhere, there is £126 of public spending in
Scotland. The implication in the hon. Lady’s question is just not
correct.
(Brigg and Goole) (Con)
The problem for the shadow Secretary of State is that some of us
remember what 13 years of a Labour Government meant for the north
of England: we received very little. Since the Government came to
power, not only have they cut the Humber bridge tolls in half and
supported the development of the Siemens wind turbine factory in
Hull and the new Siemens train factory in Goole, but we have
received huge sums of cash, including through the town deals that
are coming our way. However, we want even more. Although we
missed out on the levelling-up fund bid the first time round,
will the Minister assure me that he will look very closely at the
bids that are about to be submitted for my area for the next
round of funding?
Neil O’Brien
I will look very closely at them. I hope that through the very
exciting talks that are going on, and through the Hull and East
Riding devolution deal, we can pick up many more of the exciting
opportunities in the area. Of course, the reviews of Labour’s
performance in Hull are so good that it has just been kicked out
of the council.
Long-term Funding Settlements
(Ellesmere Port and Neston)
(Lab)
7. What steps he is taking to deliver long-term funding
settlements for the levelling-up agenda. (900021)
The Minister for Levelling Up Communities ()
We know how important multi-year certainty is to local
authorities and we aim to provide it whenever possible. We are
making £54.1 billion available to local government in England
through this year’s settlement—an increase of up to £3.7 billion
on last year. We are also providing an additional £1.6 billion of
grant funding per year across the spending review period.
Long-term challenges need long-term solutions. We have had too
much of an ad hoc bidding war, which creates winners and losers.
A perfect example is my constituency: in the past three years, we
have had our bids to the future high streets fund, towns fund,
Restoring Your Railway fund, levelling-up fund and Bus Back
Better fund rejected. Any one of those could have made a real
difference to the constituency, but after each bid, we have been
back at square one. Can the Minister not see that to truly level
up, we need a strategy, not a lottery?
I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman’s area has not been successful
in bidding for funds, but I remind him that it has received £12.6
million from the shared prosperity fund. The levelling-up bids
are competitive, and the strength of the bids is part of what is
measured, so I encourage him and his local authorities to
continue trying.
Mr Speaker
We come to the shadow Minister.
(Nottingham North)
(Lab/Co-op)
A new study by the Centre for Business Research shows that by the
end of next year, more than half the UK’s slowest-growing
economies will be in the north of England. So much for the
Government’s commitment to levelling up the country! If we want
true levelling up, we need proper regional investment. Instead,
we have a rolling series of beauty parades: the levelling-up
fund, the towns fund, the high streets fund, the buses fund, the
brownfield fund and all the others. Do Ministers really believe
that levelling up is best served by making communities come cap
in hand to Whitehall, where only some can win, and most must
lose?
Competitive funding has its place, and we think that it has been
an effective tool for protecting value for taxpayers’ money. The
hon. Gentleman knows that, as I said in answer to his colleague
the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (), that is not the only
funding that we are providing. We have increased funding for
local government by £3.7 billion.
The hon. Lady knows that the story for local government over the
past decade has been a devastating one. Even if an area is
successful in the bids that I have talked about, it will still be
worse off overall as a result of Government cuts. With this
Government, the reality never matches the press release, and we
see that once again with the shared prosperity fund: the Tory
party promised, in its 2019 manifesto, that the amount in the
fund would match the what used to be received, but now we can see
that the fund is worth hundreds of millions less. So I ask the
Minister what I asked the Secretary of State last month, when I
received only a grammar lesson in response: levelling up is a
sham, is it not?
I completely reject the hon. Member’s assertion. It is not true
that the shared prosperity fund is less; it is more. The
Opposition are looking at different sources of funding to arrive
at their inaccurate figures. If he would like us to explain how
it works, I would be very happy to provide him with a letter.
(North Ayrshire and Arran)
(SNP)
Bloomberg’s devastating forensic analysis of the Government’s
progress with their so-called levelling-up agenda has found no
overall levelling-up progress in Scotland. On the contrary, the
UK Government are levelling down Scotland compared with London,
which has had significant levelling-up funding and gains since
2019. Disparities across the UK are widening. To what extent does
the Minister agree with Bloomberg’s analysis that the Tories are
levelling down Scotland and prioritising the south of
England?
I am afraid that is not a statement that we accept. I looked at
the Bloomberg figures, and I noticed that Bloomberg was using a
2019 baseline, when the whole purpose of levelling up is to
ensure that we solve the problems identified. I would like the
hon. Lady to look at the metrics that we have included in the
“Levelling Up the United Kingdom” White Paper, and at the
missions in it; it is through those that we will level up across
the country.
Housing Associations: Right to Buy
(Birkenhead) (Lab)
9. What steps he plans to take to extend right-to-buy schemes to
housing associations. (900023)
The Minister for Housing ()
The Government remain committed to the right to buy and to
spreading the dream of home ownership to even more people. The
midlands pilots for the voluntary right to buy were completed in
2021. An independent evaluation was published; we are reviewing
the findings and will announce further details in due course.
There is a desperate shortage of social housing in this country;
more than 1 million households are waiting for social homes.
However, rather than taking the decisive action that is needed to
get to grips with this housing crisis, Ministers have threatened
to jettison their manifesto commitment to building 300,000
affordable homes a year, refuse to commit themselves to building
the council housing that we so desperately need, and are openly
considering extending the right to buy to housing association
properties. Will the Minister concede that an extension of the
right to buy scheme will make the housing shortage much worse,
will cause continued misery for many millions, and will deal a
grievous blow to the hopes of thousands of my constituents who
just want somewhere that they can call home?
I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is completely wrong. We have
a very ambitious affordable homes programme. More than £11
billion is being spent on a range of different options. We are
also introducing an infrastructure levy that makes as many, if
not more, contributions to the delivery of affordable homes. I do
not understand why the hon. Gentleman has a problem with giving
people in social housing the opportunity to become homeowners. I
have to tell him that on the council estate where I grew up, it
made a real, transformational difference to the social mobility
of the families who were able to enjoy that great policy.
Local Authority Budgets
(Bedford) (Lab)
10. What steps he is taking to help reduce financial pressures on
local authority budgets. (900024)
The Minister for Levelling Up Communities ()
As I mentioned before, this year’s local government finance
settlement makes available £54.1 billion for councils in
England—an increase of £3.7 billion on last year’s settlement—to
ensure that councils have the resources that they need to deliver
key services. That includes more than £1 billion for councils to
meet social care pressures, and a new un-ringfenced 2022-23
services grant worth £822 million.
As a result of the Government’s actions—they cut Bedford Borough
Council’s revenue support grant from over £30 million in 2015 to
just £6.1 million in 2022-23—local authorities have been forced
to raise council tax precepts to meet vital costs. The adult
social care burden is ever increasing, and cannot be paid for
unless the RSG is increased to a realistic level. Will the
Minister tell us when the fair funding review will finally be
published?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. We recognise
that adult social care costs are increasing, which is why we have
provided additional funding. For the hon. Gentleman’s borough of
Bedford, we have provided an additional £2 million for this
settlement year. We will continue to look at the pressure that
councils are under, but I remind him that this settlement
increased budgets significantly. Bedford Borough Council received
a core spending power increase of 6.5% this year, worth £9.6
million. That makes available up to £156 million-worth of
spending.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
Ministers cannot escape the fact that according to the National
Audit Office, 50% of central Government grant funding has been
cut from the budgets of local authorities up and down the land
since 2010. Ministers are living in a parallel universe where
less is more. Millions have been taken out of the shared
prosperity fund. The consequences are all too plain. We even have
Sir Rod Stewart doing DIY, filling in potholes in Essex—a county
with which the Minister will be familiar—and a third of libraries
are closing. Those are real consequences.
At what stage will the Minister grasp the bull by the horns and
provide fair funding for local authorities, based on genuine
need? This should not be about competition or jumping through
unnecessary hoops; we should be providing first-class public
services for all.
I remind the hon. Gentleman that the reason we have had such
difficulties in local government spending is the terrible state
of public finances that this Government found when they came into
power 10 years ago. It is only because of the hard work that we
have done over the last decade to repair the public finances that
we have been able to provide additional funding for local
government.
Local Infrastructure
(North East Bedfordshire)
(Con)
11. What recent progress he has made in delivering an
“infrastructure first” approach for planning and house building.
(900025)
The Minister for Housing ()
This is essential to our planning reforms. The Levelling-up and
Regeneration Bill introduces a new infrastructure levy. It will
ensure that developers contribute funding for infrastructure such
as schools, GP surgeries and new roads, and it will give local
authorities control over how that is provided to best meet the
needs of local people and development.
Can I encourage the Minister in his push for an “infrastructure
first” approach with an example from my constituency? Quite a few
years ago, a developer in the village of Biddenham proposed that
a GP surgery be located there, and gave some land for it. It was
to bring in patients from Biddenham and the neighbouring village
of Bromham. All the houses have been built, but no part of that
new GP surgery has been built. The good news is that the building
will start later this year, but can the Minister assure me that
the problem regarding the interactions between the clinical
commissioning group, Bedford Borough Council, NHS Estates, GPs,
the developer and the builder will be cleared up? No one is to
blame, but I bet that if he had already introduced
“infrastructure first”, we would have that GP surgery today.
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Councils, health bodies
and everybody else need to get much better at this. Local
planning authorities and CCGs should work together to provide the
planned provision. Under our new levy, councils will be able to
borrow against future levy receipts to forward-fund the
infrastructure that is needed. I am arranging meetings with
colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to discuss
the very issue that he brings to our attention.
(Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
It is vital that infrastructure is provided before development is
allowed. It is also vital that houses that are given planning
permission are then used for the purposes agreed on when the
permission was granted. I am talking about second home ownership.
Homes that are built for local families become second homes, and
that leads to communities being hollowed out. Will the Minister
look again at bringing in new change of use rules through the
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, so that second homes and
holiday lets fall under a separate category of planning use, and
homes in Cumbria can remain for local families, and do not become
part of ghost towns?
I seem to be dealing with the issue of second homes daily;
colleagues from around the country are raising it with me and
highlighting their concerns for their communities. The Bill
allows local councils to increase council tax on second homes,
but there is more that we need to explore. That is why I am
holding a series of roundtables across the country. Perhaps I
could come up to the Lake district and hold one there.
(Ipswich) (Con)
On-site community facilities are also vitally important. Last
summer I was at the St Clements development in east Ipswich,
where Bovis, Vistry and Trinity Estate Management have failed to
meet many of their obligations. The Foxhall community centre was
meant to be brought back into use, but has not been, and there
are many concerns over littering and lighting. Will the Minister
meet me to discuss how we can hold developers to account to make
sure they do not let residents down, as they have over the St
Clements development?
Again, I am happy to meet my hon. Friend. He is right: when
communities think that a development is coming and that there
will be a particular benefit for them, and it is then not
developed, it erodes trust in the whole planning system. That is
exactly what our Bill is designed to address, so that communities
can have more engagement, and more confidence that what has been
agreed will be delivered.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
Will the Minister wake up to the reality of what is going on in
local authorities up and down the country? Cuts since the 2010
election have run down the resources of every planning department
in the country. There are not enough professionals being trained,
and not enough people to provide an adequate service. What will
he do about the planning authorities across this country that
cannot deliver for the public?
One of the points of the infrastructure levy is that it takes out
the necessity for negotiation. It will be a set levy that
developers cannot wriggle out of, and it will be for local
authorities to set the levy. Of course, we are looking at the
broader issues that the hon. Gentleman raises, and I will
hopefully report further on them in future.
Levelling Up: Empowering Local Leaders
(Barrow and Furness) (Con)
12. What steps his Department is taking to help empower local
leaders to level up their communities. (900026)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (Neil O’Brien)
The Department is delivering the Government’s plan to empower
local leaders, including offering devolution deals by 2030 to
anywhere in England that wants one.
I thank the Secretary of State for visiting Barrow recently to
see how the £25 million town deal and the £16 million
levelling-up funding will transform our community.
Cumbria has just elected its first ever councillors to the new
Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council. This is a
historic moment for our county. Does my hon. Friend the Minister
agree that there is further to go and that the new councillors
have the opportunity to secure a bountiful devolution deal that
supercharges the county with an elected Mayor? What advice would
he give to them?
Neil O’Brien
I agree with my hon. Friend. I was in Barrow and Furness a couple
of weeks ago, and I was struck by the fantastic progress he is
helping to drive using levelling-up funds, such as the marina
village, the new bridge, the new university campus and more. I
was also struck by the common linkages and opportunities across
Cumbria, and I can see the case for an ambitious devolution deal
covering both new authorities once they are up and running.
Topical Questions
(South Cambridgeshire)
(Con)
T2. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(900041)
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations ()
Across Government, the Places for Growth programme has seen civil
servants relocated from London and the south-east to different
parts of the United Kingdom, whether it is Treasury civil
servants going to Darlington in County Durham, Home Office
officials going to Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire or indeed my
own officials relocating to Wolverhampton in the west
midlands.
There was speculation in some newspapers at the weekend that that
estimable effort by civil servants should be joined by Members of
the other place. I would wholeheartedly welcome the relocation of
the House of Lords to one of our great cities. In particular, the
attractions of the six towns that constitute Stoke-on-Trent, as I
saw last week, are formidable. If the House of Lords were to
relocate to Stoke-on-Trent, it would be assured of a warm welcome
in one of the most attractive places in England.
Northstowe in my constituency is the biggest new town in the UK
for 50 years—the biggest since Milton Keynes. It now has 1,000
houses, but it has no dedicated community centre, no permanent
café, no pub and no shop. Thousands of frustrated residents lack
anywhere to go for a pint of milk or a pint of beer. This new
town is also causing environmental problems. There is flooding in
the neighbouring village of Swavesey, and the neighbouring
village of Longstowe is running short of water. Both problems
arise from the failure of the local planning authority. Will my
right hon. Friend tell me what his Department might do to address
these problems and to make sure they do not happen again as
Northstowe is built out to 10,000 homes?
Mr Speaker
I remind people that topical questions are meant to be short and
quick, not “War and Peace.”
Steps taken in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill and changes
to the national planning policy framework should absolutely
address the problems my hon. Friend identifies. Of course, the
biggest problem he identifies is the fact that, sadly, South
Cambridgeshire has a Liberal Democrat-controlled local planning
authority that does not care about community but pursues a narrow
political agenda, to the detriment of all.
(Greenwich and Woolwich)
(Lab)
With rent levels surging in the private sector and with the local
housing allowance frozen once again, millions of hard-pressed
tenants across the country are at risk of arrears and eviction.
We know that rent tribunals are not an effective safeguard
against punitive rent rises, and that the risk of such rises is
likely only to increase when section 21 no-fault evictions are
finally scrapped. Will the Secretary of State therefore tell the
House why his planned renters reform Bill appears to be
completely silent on protections for tenants against unaffordable
rent rises?
Our renters reform Bill will specifically ensure that people in
the private rented sector are protected, and I look forward to
working with the hon. Gentleman to ensure that the Bill satisfies
the need of the hour.
(North Warwickshire)
(Con)
T3. North Warwickshire Borough Council does a fantastic job of
serving our local community, despite operating on a budget of
only £9.5 million, which is certainly the lowest in Warwickshire
and must be one of the lowest in the country. Will the Minister
agree to come to my constituency to meet the council and to see
for himself the excellent work it does, and to see how it could
put the levelling-up funding on offer to excellent
use?(900042)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (Neil O’Brien)
I pay tribute to and North Warwickshire Borough
Council, because they have done a fantastic job, particularly
during covid, in supporting the local community and local
business. I would be delighted to visit—to hop across the A5—not
least because it is only 20 minutes away from Harborough.
(North Shropshire) (LD)
T5. Just last year, Shropshire’s Conservative-run council missed
out on three levelling-up bids, and it missed out on a bus
service improvement plan bid, under the Bus Back Better fund,
this year. There is no doubt that Shropshire has need of these
funds, so I would like to understand: what steps is the Secretary
of State taking to ensure that levelling-up funds are allocated
on the basis of need, rather than through some opaque bidding
process that seems to be influenced by a council’s ability to
direct resources at that bid?(900045)
We allocate levelling-up fund bids, as the Local Government
Minister pointed out earlier, on the basis of appropriate
competition in order to ensure value for money, but I have had a
chance to talk to the excellent Conservative leader of Shropshire
Council, Lezley Picton, to make sure that she and her superb team
of Conservative councillors can deliver for the people of
Shropshire, as Conservatives always have.
(Montgomeryshire) (Con)
T4. I thank my right hon. Friend for delivering the shared
prosperity fund, with historically high funding for mid-Wales and
Montgomeryshire in particular, at more than £200 per head. I
particularly thank him for the golden thread of rurality that we
find in this formula, and I press him to continue delivering for
rural communities.(900044)
Neil O'Brien
One reason why mid-Wales has one of highest shared prosperity
fund allocations in the country is precisely because we have
taken rurality and the additional costs that come with it into
account, and I look forward to building on that.
(Portsmouth South) (Lab)
T6. It is clear that the Government’s approach to levelling up is
a postcode lottery based on their own political ambitions rather
than a genuine desire to help communities. With Portsmouth’s high
streets in dire need of investment and our city’s cultural
attractions struggling with the cost of living, when will the
Minister stop moving the goalposts and finally stop
short-changing Portsmouth?(900046)
That scored quite high on the cliché count, with “postcode
lottery”, “moving the goalposts” and “narrow political
calculation”. Instead of rehearsing for YouTube clips, the hon.
Gentleman would be better employed looking at what we have done,
not just for Portsmouth and Southampton, but for communities
including Liverpool and Birkenhead, where this Government have
been responsible for ensuring that local government receives the
support it needs. If he wants to hang on to his seat, he would be
better employed concentrating on delivering for his residents,
not making party political points.
Mr Speaker
Secretary of State, don’t spoil a good day. You are having a good
day so far, don’t ruin it.
(Kensington) (Con)
T7. I and my Kensington residents welcome the fact that the
social housing Bill was in the Queen’s Speech. Will my right hon.
Friend confirm that the Bill will give social housing tenants the
ability to hold their landlords to account? Will he also detail
the likely timing of the Bill?(900047)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities ()
My hon. Friend is right to say that the social housing Bill will
help social housing tenants in Kensington to hold their landlords
to account, but we are not waiting for the new legislation; we
are driving the “Make Things Right” campaign to make sure that
tenants understand—[Interruption.] I am disappointed that
Opposition Members think it is funny, as I think it is completely
appropriate that tenants are able to hold their landlords to
account. We are making sure that they understand how to do so and
how to escalate complaints to the housing ombudsman should that
be necessary.
(Dunfermline and West
Fife) (SNP)
Last week’s Bloomberg report suggests that levelling up in
Scotland is just not happening. Given that Scotland is
self-sufficient in gas and has great offshore renewables, should
not the stewardship, licensing and revenues be linked to the
Scottish Government budget, rather than to Her Majesty’s
Treasury? Minister, when will these negotiations start? Can we
kick-start some serious levelling up?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue of the
importance of the Scottish Government and the UK Government
working together on levelling up. That is why I am so pleased
that, working with the Finance Minister in the Scottish
Government, , we have been able to agree a
prospectus for two new freeports in Scotland. I am sure that Fife
will be one of the communities, areas and local authorities that
will be working with the UK Government to exploit the opportunity
that freeports provide outside the European Union.
(North Devon) (Con)
T8. I welcome the proposals to ensure that empty shops have to be
rented, but will the Minister explain whom they will be rented
to? Will this enable upper floors to be converted to much-needed
affordable housing? When will we see progress on filling key
visible empty units in town centres such as
Barnstaple?(900048)
The Minister for Housing ()
High street rental auctions will apply to commercial property and
make tenancies more accessible to businesses and community
groups. We recognise the importance of diversifying high streets
and have introduced permitted development rights to allow a wide
range of commercial buildings to be changed to residential use
without the need for a planning application. My hon. Friend is
right: depending on the circumstances and the type of building,
there could be opportunities to increase housing in areas such as
hers where there are real challenges.
(East Ham) (Lab)
In the Homes for Ukraine scheme, it is left to the individuals
involved to sort out matches with hosts for themselves, often
through ad hoc Facebook groups. It is not surprising that that
has led to reports such as:
“Ukrainian refugees using Facebook groups to seek a safe home in
the UK are being put at risk of sexual exploitation”.
Criminal record checks on their own cannot prevent such
exploitation. What assurance can the Secretary of State give in
respect of the rigour and effectiveness of the separate home
checks that are undertaken for the scheme?
The right hon. Gentleman raises an important question. I am very
grateful to the more than 100,000 UK citizens who have signed up
to offer their homes for the scheme. As well as criminal record
and police national computer checks before visas are granted,
there are vetting and barring and other checks, often conducted
by local authorities, at the time that individuals find
themselves in homes. I would be more than happy to provide the
right hon. Gentleman and others with a full briefing about the
processes we undertake.
(Broxtowe) (Con)
T9. In my constituency, the borough council has recently built
new housing specifically for military veterans. As an
ex-serviceperson myself, I was delighted to see this. Will the
Minister please outline what more the Government are doing to
make sure that there is housing for our veterans?(900049)
I thank my hon. Friend for his service to his country. The
Government are committed to making the UK the best place in the
world to be a veteran. Veterans with urgent housing needs are
always given high priority for social housing, and we are
investing £11.5 billion under the affordable homes programme to
deliver more social homes, including housing for veterans.
(Hornsey and Wood Green)
(Lab)
For many in the privately rented sector, the Government are like
Nero, fiddling while Rome burns. When are they going to get on
and publish the timetable for the renters reform Bill? Last
week’s was the third Queen’s Speech in which the Bill has been
mentioned, yet there is still no timetable, while section 21
evictions are on the increase in many of our constituencies.
The hon. Lady suggests we are being Neronian in fiddling while
Rome burns, but I prefer to think that we are like Julius Caesar:
we have crossed the Rubicon, alea iacta est—the die has been
cast—and the Bill will be on the statute book in this
parliamentary Session.
(Blyth Valley) (Con)
The Forget-Me-Not group in Blyth is working hard to secure better
opportunities for everyone in its local area of Cowpen Quay;
however, the group needs a base in the community to house and
deliver its services. This is grassroots levelling up, so will my
right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agree to meet me to
discuss exactly what we can do to help these people?
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the work of the
Forget-Me-Not group in Blyth, which is doing amazing work in
Cowpen Quay. I will do everything I can to support the group and
will meet my hon. Friend to do so.
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Will Ministers join me in recognising and commending the work of
Ellel parish councillor Lisa Corkerry? She is never afraid to don
the marigolds, grab the litter pickers and clean up Galgate. Lisa
would like to know when the Government are going to provide
adequate funds for local authorities such that she can put her
efforts into making her community better rather than clearing up
the mess left behind by others.
The local councillor the hon. Lady mentions sounds like an
absolutely brilliant champion for her local community. I would
love to know more, particularly about what we can do to help in
practical terms, and I look forward to working with her.
(Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)
Energy performance improvements to domestic dwellings are an
important part of the Government’s agenda in respect of climate
change obligations, as well as in respect of the cost of living.
May I draw the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of
State to private-rented off-grid properties, for which it is much
more difficult and expensive to achieve energy performance
improvements than for normal domestic dwellings?
It will indeed be much more challenging, which is why I am
working closely with the Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, , to see how we can address
the problem. I look forward to discussing the issue further with
my right hon. Friend to see how we can find an appropriate
solution.
(Easington) (Lab)
Many agree that investment in levelling up should be not a
competition but a considered plan created in partnership between
central and local government to address the areas of greatest
need. Ministers are meeting many Conservative MPs, but will the
Minister meet me to discuss the levelling-up bid for my area to
fund the Horden masterplan as well as to identify funding for
other much-needed regeneration schemes in Easington Colliery and
Peterlee town centre?
Durham is on the up and east Durham must be part of that story,
so, of course, we will make sure that a Minister meets the hon.
Gentleman to discuss what we can do to help.
(Rutherglen and Hamilton
West) (Ind)
Full fibre broadband coverage is essential to the Government’s
aim to level up, but we lag behind most of Europe in rolling it
out. What discussions has the Minister had with the Culture
Secretary to ensure that the Government have a strategy to work
with industry to improve coverage and speed up progress in rural
and urban areas of the devolved nations, which currently have the
poorest broadband?
The Culture Secretary and I talk daily. One thing at the top of
our agenda is ensuring that we have connectivity across the whole
United Kingdom. We are, of course, working with the devolved
Administrations to make sure that every citizen of the United
Kingdom benefits from UK Government investment.
(Barnsley Central) (Lab)
I am sure that the Secretary of State will want to acknowledge
the increasingly important role played by metro Mayors. May I
therefore encourage him to make contact with Mayor , the excellent metro Mayor
for West Yorkshire who now chairs cross-party group of Mayors,
the M10, to ensure the closest working relationship between
national, regional and local government?
I take the opportunity to thank the hon. Gentleman for his years
of service as metro Mayor for South Yorkshire, during which, all
party political differences aside, he did a superb job. I also
congratulate his successor, . I look forward to working
with Oliver and, of course, in the years ahead.
(Sefton Central) (Lab)
One of my constituents wants to sponsor a family of Ukrainian
children, but the pause in applications has delayed the family’s
ability to travel to the UK because they are travelling
separately. The delay cannot be about safeguarding, as Ministers
have claimed, because it has made them less safe. Will the
Secretary of State intervene with his ministerial colleagues and
enable Ukrainian children who are at risk to reach sanctuary in
this country as soon as possible?
I cannot comment on any individual case, but it is absolutely the
Government’s responsibility to ensure that as many Ukrainian
parents and children benefit from our scheme as possible. We have
to balance safeguarding concerns with the policy of the Ukrainian
Government, but the hon. Gentleman raises an important question,
and more will follow.
(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
The levelling-up White Paper offered practically no new
investment for the north-east, but it did have grandiose
missions. Now we see from the draft Bill that those missions—and
targets—can be changed at will by Ministers. Is not that a
cheater’s charter, and are the missions worth the White Paper
they are written on?
Newcastle has benefited from great civic leadership from , who, sadly, is no longer the
leader of Newcastle City Council as a result of a Corbynite coup.
I want to thank him for his leadership. I stress that the
missions can change because we live in a democracy, and this
House should be capable of deciding the destiny of this nation.
For that reason—[Interruption.] I know that the hon. Member for
Newcastle upon Tyne Central () finds the idea of democracy laughable, but
democracy, I am afraid, returned a Conservative Government in
2019 to level up and unite this country, and that is the mission
we will fulfil.
(Angus) (SNP)
The Secretary of State likes to discuss the shared prosperity
fund in abstract policy terms, but let us bring it back to brass
tacks. In Angus, in 2019, we received £2,750,186 from the EU’s
structural fund. Can he assure my constituents that we will get
at least that, plus inflation, minus the Union Jack ribbon?
Whether they are in Arbroath, Montrose or Kirriemuir, people will
recognise the vital importance of UK shared prosperity funding
and other funding. When the hon. Gentleman talks about “no Union
Jack ribbon” is he really suggesting, for example, that UK armed
forces based in Arbroath and Montrose should leave? Is that what
he is suggesting? Is he suggesting that we rip up the Union Jack
in order to make a narrow, nationalist political point? Does he
want the Marines to leave his constituency? That is what it
sounds like to me. It sounds to me that he is more prepared to
make a narrow, partisan nationalist point than to see this
country defended at a time of testing.
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