PM says northern England is main beneficiary of £2bn levelling up money

The prime minister has insisted that northern England is the main beneficiary of the latest two billion pounds of levelling up money allocated to over a hundred projects across the country after reports that London and the South East would get a disproportionate share.

But the latest announcement drew a stinging rebuke from the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, who called for an end to Whitehall’s ‘begging bowl’ culture.