Last week my town made the news for frustrating reasons. As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the second round of Levelling Up funding, here in South Shields we found out our bid had been rejected, again.
MP for South Tyneside Emma Lewell-Buck summed it up best on Twitter: “Freeports bid – rejected; towns fund bid – rejected; two levelling up bids – rejected. Levelling up is just an empty slogan."
The allocation of funds has prompted accusations that wealthier parts were awarded over the most deprived areas and that conservative voting constituencies benefitted the most.
