Sir Keir Starmer is kicking off a multi-million-pound “mission critical” campaign to halt a Reform UK-led Labour “wipeout” in the party’s traditional heartlands.
Both No10 and Angela Rayner’s Ministry of Housing have compiled a “plan for neighbourhoods” in communities in Reform-voting regions across the Red Wall – which is set to invest in regenerating council estates and public spaces in a bid to stave off “visible decline”.
The campaign is based on the findings of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), which has warned that some 600 areas in England are lagging behind Labour’s five “missions” for power.
A series of Red Wall Labour MPs have put their weight behind the plans – and have all issued warnings over the growing threat of Reform as a driving factor in getting them over the line.
“What we saw in Runcorn is a reminder that shifts in support across the Red Wall are possible. Visible decline is pushing people towards alternatives like Reform,” Leigh & Atherton MP Jo Platt told The Times.
Rother Valley MP Jake Richards added: “Governments of different colours have not done enough, and now social and economic decay is driving voters to Farage.
“We need a major investment programme in deprived neighbourhoods to get tough on the causes of Reform.”
And North Durham’s Luke Akehurst warned: “To avoid further electoral wipeouts, we need to make tangible changes in communities ahead of the General Election.”
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What’s Labour’s line on the ‘mission critical’ anti-Reform campaign?
A Government source, reacting to reports of a “mission critical” campaign to invest in the Red Wall, steered clear of a direct mention of Reform UK.
“The Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister have been clear that the spending review will need to support the delivery of the Government’s plan for a decade of national renewal and raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom,” the source said.
They added that No10 “welcomed Icon’s valuable work to identify and understand the persistent challenges that exist in many parts of the country”.
Thousands of civil servants booted out of London in major cost-cutting exercise
Thousands more civil servants are set to be moved out of London as the Government seeks to cut costs and “radically reform the state”.
Under plans announced today, the Government will cut the number of civil servants working in London by 12,000 and shift jobs to a series of new regional “campuses” across the country.
The changes will also see 11 Government office buildings in London close, including one of its largest Westminster sites, in a move expected to save £94million a year by 2032.
Cabinet Office chief Pat McFadden – whose own department cut thousands of jobs last month – said the Government was “taking more decision-making out of Whitehall and moving it closer to communities all across the UK”.
Other roles will be created in Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Darlington, Newcastle and Tyneside, Sheffield, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast and York, with the changes said to bring £729million to the local economy by 2030.