Broken Britain 'must change or die', says Labour

Lisa Nandy, in a speech at the Convention of the North today, is due to outline Labour’s proposal to unleash the “power of all people in all parts of Britain” by handing Westminster controls to local communities.

The conference will also be addressed by a minister in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government who will set out the merits of “hard-wiring” levelling up into the nation.

She will accuse the Conservatives of having “written off” areas that once fuelled the UK economy and failing to deliver on the 2019 manifesto pledge of creating opportunities outside of London and the south-east of England.

Ms Nandy is expected to say in Manchester: “Ambition is everywhere in the towns, villages, and cities that were once the engines of Britain, for too long written off and written out of our national story.

“For 15 years, since the global crash, the failure of running an economy like this has been plain to see.

“But every time the public has sounded the alarm, hitting our politicians with tsunami after tsunami of discontent, our creaking political system has done nothing.

“This is the collective task facing our generation of political leaders: to respond to that siren call or face obsolescence. To change or die.”

Party officials said Ms Nandy will describe the current funding model for local government as “absurd” and “undemocratic”, with the system replaced by a “significant expansion of economic devolution in England” during a Starmer premiership.

Vowing to “end a century of centralisation”, Ms Nandy will promise to “bake” that pledge “into our first two terms of government”.

Ms Nandy will say: “Unleashing the power of all people in all parts of Britain is no longer a ‘nice to have’, a local or a regional issue — it is at the heart of whether this country has a future or not.”

At the conference, which will also see a keynote address from Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, Northern mayors, civic and business leaders will call on the Government and Opposition to commit to “hard-wiring” levelling up into UK law.

This would mean a move away from the current competitive bidding systems for Government funding, which picks winners and losers, to a settlement where all regions have the funding they need to close the gaps in living standards and help grow the UK economy as a whole.

The plan to hard-wire levelling up into UK law takes inspiration from Germany, where its constitution guarantees equivalent living standards and strong local leadership.

Carsten Schneider, the Minister for East Germany and Equivalent Living Conditions in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ Government, is expected to say: "Regional structural policy has long been a cornerstone of German politics.

“The goal of creating equal living conditions everywhere in Germany can even be found in our constitution. There are good reasons for it. If regions are drifting apart, it is bad for everyone, including for the growing regions. If a variety of regions flourish, the whole country will prosper."

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: "Our own history has shown us that, too often, the North struggles to get to the top of the Government’s to-do list – whichever political party is in charge.

“That’s why we need to hard-wire levelling up into UK law and unlock the potential of the North to help the whole country thrive."