Starmer gambles on ‘levelling up’-style initiative to tackle Reform threat

PM will say the new initiative will help communities ‘get rid of the boarded-up shops, shuttered youth clubs and crumbling parks’. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Deprived areas of the UK will be given tens of millions of pounds each from a new fund that Keir Starmer hopes will help Labour tackle the threat posed by Reform UK.

The prime minister will launch the regeneration initiative on Thursday, gambling that an updated version of “levelling up” will address anger about Britain’s broken communities.