The UK Government has been accused of handing Levelling Up funding to wealthy areas in England at the expense of the poorest communities in Scotland. Tory ministers were criticised after millions in taxpayers' cash was last week awarded to projects in well-off local authority areas south of the Border.
It has now emerged that five of the least well-off council areas in Scotland received no grants from the Levelling Up fund at all. Glasgow, North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire are all ranked in the top 10 most-deprived areas according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).
In comparison, the London Borough of Sutton was awarded £14.1million to improve train services to Belmont. Rishi Sunak was also forced to defend £19million awarded to his own constituency of Richmond, in North Yorkshire, arguing the money would benefit armed forces personnel.
