CCHQ’s much-touted “red wall loyalty” office up in Leeds is looking like it’s actually a white elephant. Guido hears its desks are barely populated. The new office was announced in October 2020 and opened by Oliver Dowden in March last year. The mixed-office building is equipped with a handsome dining area, spacious desks, and huge windows – a honeypot to lure Tory staff up from cramped Matthew Parker Street (with the help of a payout). It looks as though no one wanted to level up though as Guido hears the office only has around 20 regulars when the Tories are paying for a whole lot more real estate. There were meant to be 50 permanent staff with plenty more desks to be used “depending on demand”…

Based on current per-square-foot prices for the building, 100 desks would set you back somewhere in the ballpark of £350,000 per annum. Even worse, CCHQ is rumoured to have it on a long corporate lease, likely meaning it can’t be downsized. No one said levelling up would be cheap…

Knowing what’s really happening with HS2 is near impossible with Downing Street’s current comms strategy.  Especially when Grant Shapps and Jeremy Hunt were allowed to drop hints in recent days essentially confirming the Northern leg of HS2 is about to be derailed. All before the Tories head off to conference in… Manchester.

Number 10 are spinning the constant umming and ahhing over HS2 as a consequence of Rishi’s “alarm” at the cost surpassing £100 billion. Guido has taken a look back at the confusion in just the last few months:

• March 26^th: Michael Gove insisted HS2 would arrive in Manchester. Though perhaps not Euston…
• July 30^th: Government ‘committed‘ to HS2 after watchdog rates project as ‘unachievable‘. Strong start…
• September 14^th: Downing Street refused to guarantee the HS2 will run to Manchester as planned. Change of tune…
• September 15^th: Chris Philp said he didn’t know whether the line would go to Manchester as planned but that trains would go “very fast from London“.
• September 17^th: Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wouldn’t confirm HS2 link to Manchester despite PM’s ‘absolute‘ levelling up commitment.
• September 18^th: Richard Holden refused to confirm HS2 will run to Manchester but added in the Commons “we remain focused on its delivery.” One-way ticket to uncertainty there…
• September 18^th: Pensions Minister Laura Trott told Sky News  “The government looks at every single penny it is spending to make sure that we’re getting the value for money.” Avoiding the question again… 
• September 21^st: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the costs of HS2 were “getting totally out of control” as he refused to commit to building the Manchester leg.
• September 24^th: Transport Minister Grant Shapps let the cat out the bag, responding to whether HS2 will run to Manchester that, “it’s not my area these days” adding that the PM is “prepared to do long-term difficult things.” 
• September 25^th: Rishi refused to comment on the speculation of scrapping northern leg of HS2, though claimed he is “still committed to levelling up“.
• September 26^th: Policing Minister Chris Philp said he “wants to see tax payers money spent prudently” and that “the chancellor and the PM are trying to control the costs”. 
• September 26^th: The Times reported Rishi Sunak is to delay or even scrap the leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester, citing runaway costs.

Are we derailing HS2 or not?

Last night it was reported the government’s plan to hire 12 Levelling Up directors across the UK has been scrapped, with Levelling Up minister Dehenna Davison confirming in a written ministerial question that the £144,000 jobs, despite “over 500 applicants“, are no longer available following “wider departmental changes“. Labour are fuming, with both Lisa Nandy and Alex Norris declaring the move “an embarrassing shambles“. Norris went even further in PoliticsHome, attacking the hiring process for being “beset by delays”…

“The story of these directors is symptomatic of the government’s approach to Levelling Up: announced with big fanfare before being beset by delays and then quietly dropped by ministers who hope nobody notices.”

Nandy and Norris might want to think twice when complaining the recruitment process for this took too long. Who was supposed to help hire these regional chiefs? None other than the Levelling Up department’s then-second permanent secretary, Sue Gray. Forever waiting for Sue Gray…

With the first round of Levelling Up funding now on its way, the government is keen to get on the front foot and make it clear the Red Wall isn’t missing out on all that cash. Just last week, Rishi told the BBC:

“If you look at the funding, and you compare it to the number of people that live in each region, the region that has done the best in the amount of funding per person is the north!”

All well and good… except the Isles of Scilly, just off the coast of Cornwall, is set to receive a cool £48 Million. With a population of just 2,100 according to the latest census, that’s an average of £23,000 per resident…

Apparently the cash will be used to improve sea links to the islands, including providing “a more accessible passenger service“, and to encourage new investment in the local economy. The Isle of Scilly already has regularly scheduled flights and ferries to the mainland, with the February timetable displaying 3-4 flights on most days, as well as ferries. During some months of the year, flights reach as far as Exeter…

Benjamin Elks from the TaxPayers’ Alliance tells Guido:

“Taxpayers will rightly ask if this is the best use of precious funds. Ministers should review this award.”

Scilly money…

Guido was disappointed to see that, despite arriving in the seaside town of Morecambe with an army of photographers, Rishi turned down the opportunity to pose with the area’s most popular landmark – the statue of the eponymous Eric Morecambe. Thankfully, fun-loving Michael Gove leapt at the opportunity, and hit a wobbly pose alongside local MP David Morris. Michael’s used to being caught on the hop…

The promotion of Jake Berry to Tory Party Chairman has created a power vacuum in one of the Party’s most influential backbench caucuses. The Northern Research Group has been key in holding the government to account on levelling up, fighting for Northern freedom during lockdown and additional Treasury support during the pandemic. Berry isn’t the only prominent NRG figure Truss elevated to ministerial office; Dehenna Davison, the 2019 MP for Bishop Aukland, was appointed as a Levelling Up Minister last week.

Among strong competition, Carlisle MP John Stevenson has come out on top to replace Berry as NRG chairman, subject to an AGM due after conference. Stevenson says he’s “very proud to be the NRG Chairman, during this crucial period for the North.” Will the NRG continue being a thorn in the side of the government, or be supportive now their man Berry’s on the inside? Time will tell…