Michael Gove promises to ‘keep faith’ with Brexit Britain – as he unveils £1billion fund for 55 towns

MICHAEL Gove today promised to “keep faith” with Brexit Britain – as he unveiled a new £1billion towns fund.

He and PM Rishi Sunak are handing 55 towns funding pots of £20 million each to spend on local high streets and projects.

Jon BondMichael Gove today promised to ‘keep faith’ with Brexit Britain – as he unveiled a new £1billion towns fund[/caption]

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, Mr Gove said these are areas that were “condescended” and “patronised” by Labour for years.

But in a clear pitch for Red Wall votes at the next election, he promised these Brexit towns the Tories will have their backs.

The cash will help breathe new life into high streets and crack down on anti-social behaviour, Mr Gove said.

He said: “It was our towns that were the Brexit heartlands of our country.

“They were the communities where that strong sense of local identity and quiet patriotism, but also a sense the economic model wasn’t working for them, that you had Brexit Britain quietly asserting itself.

“We are keeping faith with those communities that have been overlooked and undervalued.”

The will help usher in a “renaissance” in high streets currently blighted by empty shops and a lack of investment, Mr Gove said.

Areas like Mansfield, Skegness and Torquay will benefit.

Mr Gove added: “The fashionable London elites have tended to either ignore, condescend or patronise people in these communities.

“We think it is absolutely vital. That these communities get the attention and the money that they deserve, because they’re the backbone of Britain.”

Towns will get the cash and it will be up to local people how to spend it.

The aim is for the money to be used to help leverage in private investment.

Mr Sunak said: “Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities.

“The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.

“That changes today. Our Long-Term Plan for Towns puts funding in the hands of local people themselves to invest in line with their priorities, over the long-term. That is how we level up.”

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