The Prime Minster visited the home of the football club Accrington Stanley and promised on Monday that “we have got your back.”
Rishi Sunak announced on Monday that the town will receive £20 million in levelling up finds and Accrington will also have a further £20 million boost as it falls under the government’s 55 “forgotten towns.”
Audience member James Lavery, 31, who runs a local health supplements manufacturer, asked Sunak, “How important is it to you that we keep seeing these investments into places, businesses like mine, where we can grow, we can become larger in the future, employ more people and (become) a real manufacturing hub?”
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The Prime Minister said, “This is a really important point, actually. What does levelling up mean? Like, it’s a phrase people think sounds good.
“I will tell you what it means to me. It means that, no matter where you grow up in our country, you should feel that you and your family, your children, have the opportunity to succeed in life and that you can feel enormous pride in the place that you can call home.
“That, in a nutshell, is what levelling up means to me. And when we make these levelling up investments, that’s what they are geared to doing.
“We have long-term plans, similar to Burnley, for towns where we are giving you £20 million – long-term funding, not for one year, that will last for many years, and putting you in charge of it.
“And that’s being replicated at 50 different towns across the country, many here in the North West, and you’ll decide what the right priorities are for your area.”
On HS2 Sunak said it was a “big decisions” to scrap the northern link, however this means the money saved will be invested in “hundreds of projects,” that will improve roads and cap bus fares at £2.
Sunak said, “That again for me is all levelling up and helping businesses as well.
“You should know that you have a Government that is going to keep investing in your communities, they will not be forgotten.
“I’m a northern MP as well. I want to make sure each and every one of you feels that this Government has got your back and is going to invest in your community.”
The Conservative Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe said, “This Government is really investing, not just in Hyndburn and Haslingden but across East Lancashire.
“It’s under this Prime Minister that we will keep continuing to deliver from towns and areas like mine.”
