A Tory MP tried to call out Lisa Nandy on ‘levelling up’ in the House of Commons – and it did not go well.
Jonathan Gullis, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, challenged Nandy over Labour’s record in the city in the chamber on Wednesday.
“This Conservative government that’s invested £56 billion from the levelling up fund… 500 brand new home office jobs, a £17.6 million Kidsgrove town deal that’s unlocked the refurbishment of a sports centre [Labour] closed in 2017 because they couldn’t be bothered to spend a single pound coin,” Gullis claimed.
“Whereas Labour’s legacy is a PFI hospital with 200 fewer beds than the old one stealing £200 million a year from the doctors and nurses on the front line, PFI schools stealing money from the teachers in the classroom and the white elephant council office that wasted £40million.
“Why are Labour ever going to come back to Stoke-On-Trent? Because I can’t see it.”
But Nandy was having none of it. Mentioning a recent visit to the city, she hit back: “Taking into account every single penny of levelling up money that has been allocated to Stoke-On-Trent, his constituents are £27.7 million worse off as a consequence of this government.
“That is the Tory premium. That is the premium you pay for having a Tory government.
“If [Gullis] had any inch of conscience about the flight of those young people that I met, he would be standing up and challenging this government on their record of not delivering for Stoke-On-Trent.”
Amid heckles from the Conservative benches, she continued: “They don’t need to believe me, why don’t they read the accounts committee report that was published today? It is devastating. It says billions of pounds have been squandered on ill thought out plans, forcing areas to compete over pots of money, small refunds for the money that has been stripped from us over a decade.”
Watch the devastating takedown below.
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