Boris Johnson has called on the government to accelerate his flagship policy of levelling-up, in a thinly veiled swipe at ministers.
The former prime minister urged Michael Gove to “urgently” speed up projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, planning reform and devolution.
He described the Levelling Up Bill as “stalled” as he spoke in the House of Commons.
Johnson described the UK as one of the most “regionally imbalanced” of all the major economies.
However, he said it had “massive potential” waiting to be “unleashed”, adding: “Is it not time to accelerate the Levelling Up Bill now stalled and push forward urgently with Northern Powerhouse Rail, planning reform, devolution, secure affordable energy supply, gigabit broadband and all the other levelling-up measures that will make this the strongest and most prosperous economy in Europe?”
Communities secretary Gove thanked Johnson for his “leadership” on the issue which sparked laughter from the Labour benches.
The former PM could be seen shaking his order paper at Labour MPs and accusing them of stealing the Conservatives’ policy.
Gove continued to praise Johnson’s “determination” before attacking Labour leader Keir Starmer’s five missions for the country.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill is currently passing through the House of Lords and underpins a series of economic rebalancing aims, which had been set out in a government white paper published last year.
Johnson’s intervention was made against the backdrop an extraordinary row between the government and the covid inquiry over his WhatsApp messages.
The government is trying to block the inquiry’s order to release the communications, arguing that it should not have to hand over material which is “unambiguously irrelevant”.
However, a defiant Johnson has bypassed the government and told the inquiry he is happy to hand over all his own communications from that period.
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