Wayne David, Labour MP for Caerphilly, has strongly criticised the Conservative Government’s White Paper “Levelling Up the United Kingdom”.

The UK Government last week published its 300-page White Paper which has been in preparation for over two years. The paper was presented to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, and was supposed to set out the Conservatives plan to rejuvenate the less prosperous parts of the United Kingdom.

Having read the report, Wayne David says that he is “deeply disappointed” with its contents. The report contains only one small reference to the Caerphilly County Borough and that is an indication of a small amount of funding from the Community Renewal Fund, which has already been allocated.

Wayne David said, “This much heralded report is deeply disappointing. It is a damp squib. The report consists largely of historical analysis and descriptions of the problems and difficulties which many areas face. It does, however, contain very few, if any, clear proposals about how these issues may be addressed, and contains absolutely no commitments to future funding.

“The document refers to Jericho and Renaissance Florence, but has only got a small footnote to the Caerphilly borough. This White Paper shows that there is little, if anything, of substance behind the UK Conservative Government’s levelling-up agenda. This is typical of the Tories’ approach towards government – all talk and no action.”