| Prime Minister Liz Truss has been called on by Northern Conservative MPs not to dismiss the levelling up agenda set out by her predecessor Boris Johnson.
Tory MPs in the influential Northern Research Group are among those calling for Ms Truss to "double down on levelling up" and not forget the promises the party made to voters in the 2019 general election.
The calls to continue the agenda aimed at spreading opportunity more equally across the UK come on the eve of the Conservative party conference, which starts in Birmingham this weekend.
Calls from the Northern MPs come as new research highlights the electoral significance to voters of regenerating their areas of the UK.
The research by WPI Strategy for the Retail Jobs Alliance, a group of retail businesses and unions, found that of the 50 constituencies with the highest rates of empty shops, 90% are among those identified as being in most need of levelling up.
The report argues in favour of freezing business rates and reforming them, in order to breathe new life into high streets and improve their prospects of being levelled up.
Read the full story here |
| The remaining creditors of Studio Retail Group, which collapsed into administration earlier this year, are in line to recover the millions they are collectively owed - but some face a longer wait.
The business racked up debts of more than £80m when it entered insolvency and its assets were bought by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group for just £1.
Administrators at Teneo have been overseeing the remaining business ever since and have been working to identify who owes what to whom - and if there is enough money to pay them.
Read the full story here |
