Michael Gove denies no new money is going into levelling-up

theguardian.com:

The levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, has said it is a “bogus argument” to suggest there is no new money going into his flagship levelling-up agenda.

Gove defended long-awaited plans to close the gap between rich and poor parts of the UK in the face of accusations they contain no new money and little fresh thinking.

Responding to claims there is no new money for the wide-ranging plans, Gove told Sky News: “I think that’s a bogus argument because the chancellor gave us a huge cheque in the spending review and now we are spending it.

“We’re making sure in Wolverhampton, in Sheffield and in other areas that we put our money where our mouth is. And that we make sure that money which in the past was spent too much in London and the south-east is now spent in the north and the Midlands where it’s needed.”

Later on BBC Breakfast, he said: “The key thing about the spending review is that it gave me and other government departments a significant amount in the bank and now we’re cashing those cheques and the money is getting out.”

He told the programme the government had “12 big missions” for levelling up, adding the pledges “commit us to ensure that research and development spending, the sort of rocket fuel that will help our economy grow, is spread more equally and also that we tackle some of the other underlying inequalities in health and education and housing”.

People in the north of England and midlands had been “overlooked and undervalued for years” by politicians, he said.

Gove declined an offer to appear on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, prompting the presenters to “empty chair” the minister – broadcasting an image of a vacant seat in which he would have appeared had he accepted the invitation.