Angela Rayner has committed to deliver devolution across the whole of the north of England as part of the government’s efforts to boost growth in the nation’s northern heartlands.
Speaking ahead of her speech opening the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday, the Deputy Prime Minister said the government will be the one that “completes devolution in the north” and said: “Northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall.”
Rayner earlier this week announced agreements that have completed devolution across Yorkshire, with the Labour government set to approve devolution settlements for Lancashire, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire.
Labour’s manifesto at the general election pledged to transfer power out of Westminster and into communities, with landmark legislation to allow them to “take back control”.
READ MORE: Where to visit in Liverpool during conference, according to the city’s MPs
Rayner said: “For 14 years, the over-centralised Westminster-knows-best attitude of the Tories left millions of people left behind, neglected, ignored and invisible. Britain’s economy has been held back and dragged down by their failed trickle-down experiment.
“This Labour government will harness the potential in our economy, handing power back and putting communities in control, so innovation and growth can bloom in every part of the country.
“Our devolution revolution will shift power away from Westminster, reigniting the fires of our economy, unleashing investment and driving economic growth by trusting in our local leaders who know their areas best.
“I have seen how in my own patch, devolution has put rocket fuel under local pride. We have the power to do things in a Manchester-way, but we want to support other communities to do things their own way. This is about restoring trust in politics and respecting people with skin in the game to make decisions for their own area.
“We will be the government that completes devolution in the north. This shift will change the future of the north of England like nothing else. Northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall. The change will be irreversible, there is no going back and I will get it done.”
At the party’s conference, Labour will set out how the government will fix the foundations as a rock-solid platform from which to rebuild Britain, especially following the discovery of a £22bn black hole in the public finances, inherited from the previous Conservative administration.
READ MORE: The full LabourList conference programme, from karaoke to key panel debates
READ MORE: Follow all of LabourList‘s Labour party conference 2024 news and debate here
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