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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Toby Helm

Labour must target deprived areas or lose out to Reform, says former minister

Bleak street with rubbish bins overflowing and ugly buildings
Some of the most deprived areas are around northern cities such as Manchester. Photograph: Ian Canham/Alamy

Keir Starmer’s government must strictly target the delivery of its core “missions” at areas of maximum deprivation or lose huge numbers of votes to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, an independent commission led by a former Labour cabinet minister will suggest this week.

The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON), chaired by Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, a former party chief whip and housing minister, will say the government risks “wasting billions of pounds in higher public spending while failing to transform the places that need it most” unless it adopts the targeted approach.

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