‘Levelling Up’ is Letting Scotland Down

Anum Qaisar MP addressing the House of Commons

The Tory Levelling Up programme has provided Scotland with few rewards. 

Earlier this month, I took on the role of SNP Levelling Up Spokesperson - a year on from the Conservative Government publishing its White Paper on the programme, detailing how they will “spread opportunity more equally across the UK”. 

A lot has changed since then, to put it mildly, but Tory commitments to the programme and the wealth disparity across the four nations remain unchanged. With nearly all of Scotland’s 59 Westminster constituencies falling further behind, according to Bloomberg UK’s Levelling Up Scorecard, Scotland has been forgotten by Westminster yet again.  

The second round of Levelling Up funding in January 2023 saw £177 million distributed to Scotland. This figure is a let-down – considering it’s simply 8.4% out of the possible £2.1 billion. This Westminster system cannot meet our needs and continually leaves behind many local authorities including my constituency of Airdrie and Shotts. 

Across my local area, many are facing hardship. Cruel cuts from the Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council to vital local services such as swimming pools and leisure centres will result in people’s physical and mental health being impacted. And Tory economic incompetence means that foodbanks continue to grow in number to keep up with demand – with many people, including those particularly in low paid jobs, struggling to get by. 

These are the sorts of issues we need to be tackling immediately. 

We, in Scotland, know this. 

While Levelling Up funds will be spent on devolved issues, it will have no input from the Scottish Parliament. Yet prior to Scotland being forcibly dragged out of the European Union, EU regional development policy allocated Scotland up to €944m (£827.6m) in structural and investment funding for the period 2014-2020 and the Scottish Government played a key role in directing this funding.  

Brexit blocked Scotland’s access to these funds and, as a replacement, the Brexiteers - led by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – offered fabricated promises of £1.5 billion a year for Scottish devolved services. With only £177 million delivered from the Levelling Up fund in 2023, this means that for every £1 the UK Government promised, they have given Scotland around 11.8p and Scotland has been short-changed by an incredible 88%. 

Instead, much of the ‘Levelling Up’ funding is going to strengthen Tory seats in England. 52 out of the 111 communities chosen to receive Levelling Up money in January 2023 are Tory constituencies. Even in England, out of the 80 successful bids for funding only half are among the 100 most deprived areas of the country.  

Meanwhile wealthier areas including Richmondshire borough in North Yorkshire, which covers more than half the Richmond seat of the wealthiest MP in the Commons (who also happens to be Prime Minister Rishi Sunak), received funding. 

As communities are pushed to compete against each other for funding it appears that those financial advantages are seemingly given to areas where the Tories seek to bolster their vote. 

Could it be that Levelling Up is nothing but blatant cronyism, masquerading behind the thin veil of regional development for the masses? 

My constituency of Airdrie and Shotts could make great use of this funding, like protecting our vital wellbeing facilities from the damage of a Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council’s budgetary mismanagement. 

The UK Government must justify why it is leaving so many disadvantaged communities high and dry whilst the cost of living continues to rise. 

A third tranche of levelling-up funding is yet to be distributed. Rather than the botched and broken system of funding distribution from Westminster, it is time to transfer the funding powers to Holyrood. That will serve as the first step in ensuring fair and efficient use of funds. 

However, the reality for Scotland is that only the full powers of independence will truly unlock our ability to decide what is best for our diverse communities. Until such point, Westminster will always attempt to dictate our local affairs with relentless power grabs that undermine both our parliament and our people. 

This article was originally published in The National

The Tories must step up to tackle misogyny

Today’s Queen’s Speech is an opportunity for the Tory government to seize the agenda, and address the systematic disparity in gender equality faced by women.

In order to dismantle the structural barriers that women face at a public, private, and legislative level, it is vital that we reflect on what can be done to ensure women’s equality.

As women, we regularly encounter attacks rooted in misogyny both online and face to face.

The Online Safety Bill is the most recent strategy from the UK government to tackle online abuse. Despite women being 27 times more likely to be harassed online, the bill does not once mention women, girls, or gender.

Women’s rights organisations such as Glitch and End Violence Against Women have raised concerns over the disproportionate level of abuse faced by women on the internet.

These organisations like these have repeatedly called on the Tory government to recognise online violence against women in the bill and to implement specific measures within the legislation to tackle the issue.

Sadly, these calls have been ignored. In doing so, the Prime Minister has missed a significant opportunity to comprehensively tackle online violence against women — something organisations have stated will have a devastating and long-lasting impact on victims.

Alongside legislation, employers must play a part in tackling gender barriers.

In their most recent report “Menopause and the Workplace”, the Fawcett Society’s research found that a staggering one in ten women that experienced menopause subsequently left their job due to their symptoms.

At Women and Equalities select committee, our recent enquiry into “Menopause and the Workplace” is examining ways in which the Tory government could implement policy and encourage workplace practices to support women experiencing menopause.

Women play an integral role in the workplace, and it is important they receive the necessary support and accommodations to retain them in their chosen professions.

The number of women in paid employment remains lower than men, with recent ONS labour market data showing that the female employment rate sits at 72.2 per cent, compared with 78.8 per cent for men.

This data, however, fails to consider the unpaid work undertaken by women at home.

Deeply entrenched gender norms have long seen women bear the brunt of childcare and domestic work within the household.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic caused a shift in working patterns with the emergence of flexible and home-working, these benefits are often missed by women with increased pressures in the form of childcare, home-schooling and domestic work.

We must tackle conceptions of childcare responsibilities at a structural and policy level.

As a society, we must continue to normalise men taking on shared responsibility of childcare and move away from engrained gender norms that burden women with this role.

As for policy, the government could consider comprehensive public childcare provisions.

This will help disrupt gender roles by providing women with opportunity to offset their traditional role as primary caregivers, and enter the workforce.

The UK government should follow in Scotland’s footsteps — the SNP government have expanded free childcare to match the number of hours offered to primary school pupils, and plan to expand free early years education to all one and two-year-olds.

Issues of gender inequality impact all areas of women’s lives be it in the workplace, home or online.

Women are continually faced with invisible hurdles not faced by our male counterparts.

As the Tory government begins to set out its agenda for the forthcoming parliamentary year, it must consider the changes needed to take place at the public, private and legislative level to address ongoing disparities within women’s lives.

However, we have a Prime Minister, at the very top of the Tory government, who wrote: “Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts.”

Be in no doubt — the Prime Minister is unlikely to prioritise legislation that tackles structural issues facing women.

But enough is enough. Misogyny is a pandemic, and the battle to challenge it does not lie solely with women.

This article was originally published in The Times Red Box.