GOVERNMENT plans to ‘level up’ the country was welcomed by Windsor MP Adam Afriyie despite being labelled an “insult” by Slough’s representative.

Levelling up Secretary Michael Gove finally announced the government’s plans to bridge the gap between rich and poor areas of the country over two years after the Prime Minister pledged to do so on the election campaign.

Plans include 12 ‘national missions,’ such as bringing the rest of the UK’s public transport closer to London standard and rolling out 5G broadband for the large majority of households.

The opposing Labour party has called the ‘levelling up’ plan a “series of rehashed announcements,” some of which were made by Gordon Brown when he was the Labour Prime Minister in 2008.

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In the South East, the government has backed 11 projects via a £151m investment through round one of the levelling up funds to regenerate parts of the region, such as Portsmouth and Seaford.

Reacting to the announcement, Windsor MP Adam Afriyie said: “Having fought hard for Windsor I very much hope that, through this white paper we will continue to see improved connectivity for businesses and homes across the constituency further boosting our local economy and improving the lives of everyone in the area.

“As chairman of the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology it is great to see the Windsor constituency receiving support for research and development through our myriad of medical and technology based businesses and I welcome the Government’s commitment to mirror this success across the UK.

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“Above all, I will be looking carefully at measures that support our thriving hospitality sector in the months and years ahead.”

In neighbouring Slough, Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi called the white paper an “insult to long-suffering communities”.

He said: “After mercilessly cutting back local authority budgets, the government has now offered back crumbs.

“We needed a plan to guarantee good jobs, support to ensure our high street thrives, better transport connectivity, increased devolution and a plan to make our streets safer.

“Instead, we have a cobbled-together plan of old policies, with no new money and without a real strategy to “level up”.”