THE man tasked by Michael Gove with fashioning the Tories’ “levelling up” strategy has been hired by Labour to do the same thing.
Andy Haldane, a former chief economist at the Bank of England, has been brought in to run Labour’s plan for “regional growth”, Lisa Nandy told the Guardian.
Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary under Labour leader Keir Starmer, also appeared at her party’s conference in Liverpool alongside a Conservative MP.
Danny Kruger, the Eton-educated son of TV presenter Prue Leith and the Tory MP for Devizes, previously served as political secretary to Boris Johnson during his time as prime minister.
He appeared alongside Nandy at an event run by the right-wing think tank Onward.
The think-tank’s website says: “Onward develops bold and practical ideas for the next generation of centre-right thinkers and leaders.”
Nandy told the Guardian: “They came to this conference because they can see that levelling up under the Tories is dead. It is the only answer for the country and Labour is where it’s at.
“That gave me a lot of confidence that the prize isn’t just within our reach – that better country that we want to build – but it’s absolutely within our reach.”
The Labour MP’s comments echo those made by her party’s leader in July.
READ MORE: Wee Ginger Dug: The levelling up lie: We should beware UK funding in Scotland
Giving a speech to activists in Liverpool, Starmer said: “Just because the Tory commitment to levelling up is dead, doesn’t mean the idea of levelling up is dead – Labour will take it on.”
Starmer also told the crowd that he had brought in former prime minister Gordon Brown to help at look at “new forms of economic devolution”.
It is unclear if this is the same body of work as the regional growth strategy being overseen by Haldane.
In July, Gove was sacked by Johnson from his levelling up brief amidst a mass of ministerial resignations that led to the now-former prime minister's eventual downfall.
Labour has reached a new high in the polls after Liz Truss’s new UK Government oversaw the value of the pound hitting historic lows against the US dollar.
Truss has also brought in tax cuts for the highest earners and an end to a cap on bankers’ bonuses, policies which are overwhelmingly unpopular, even with Conservative voters.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel