'Levelling up' was meaningless, claims Iain Duncan Smith

A senior Tory MP and backer of Liz Truss has claimed that ‘levelling up’ was a meaningless phrase amid speculation that the new Prime Minister is ditching the project.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said on Tuesday night that the phrase had “come to be used for almost anything”.

“I’ve never been in favour of the phrase [levelling up],” he told Channel 4 News, adding: “I’m not sure what it ever told anybody.”

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“The truth is, she is committed to the Northern Powerhouse, she has committed herself to investment, big investment, and to economic zones which will be hugely influential up in the north where people voted for us for the first time.

British politician Iain Duncan Smith, right, arrives for the announcement of the result of the Conservative Party leadership contest at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)British politician Iain Duncan Smith, right, arrives for the announcement of the result of the Conservative Party leadership contest at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
British politician Iain Duncan Smith, right, arrives for the announcement of the result of the Conservative Party leadership contest at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

“These will be instituted by her and will improve their economies locally, as well as huge investment as well in communications. These are the things that will turn those communities around.

“The phrase ‘levelling up’ has come to be used for almost anything. What she needs now is to focus, quite rightly, on what actually changes people’s lives.”

It comes following suggestions that Ms Truss has decided to sideline the commitment to “levelling up the UK” which was promised by Boris Johnson.

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Sources involved in the project said that this seemed “at odds” with the stated ambition of Simon Clarke, who was appointed as Levelling Up Secretary on Tuesday evening.

Ms Truss has previously vowed to “review the levelling up formula” after the south east was given twice as much funding as the north east last year.

She has also committed to implementing Northern Powerhouse Rail, nine months after the previous government scaled back the project.

The then-leadership hopeful said it was “absolutely crucial for the future of the north of England”.

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It comes after Andy Street, the West Midlands Mayor, said that he had been given personal assurances by Liz Truss regarding levelling up the region.

Ms Truss did not mention levelling up in either her victory speech after winning the Tory leadership contest or in her first as Prime Minister outside Downing Street.

He said: “Before I signed up to support her I got her utter commitment to continue levelling-up; the Levelling Up Bill going through (Parliament) and a number of one-off investments in the West Midlands.”