The government is today unveiling its ‘Levelling Up’ report that it says will “transform” the country.
Aiming to “close the gap” between the richer and poorer parts of the country, the long-awaited strategy – which has been unveiled by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, and will be further detailed in a white paper report being released later today – will take until 2030, and looks to improve services such as education, broadband, and transport.
Officials say the report will set out a blueprint to bring prosperity “to all parts” of the UK.
In the Conservatives’ 2019 general election-winning manifesto, the party said its focus would be “levelling up every part of the UK”, and the term has since become a key slogan for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.
At the heart of the strategy is a plan to create more regional mayors, such as existing posts like Labour’s Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, or the Conservative’s Andy Street in the West Midlands, and Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, and every part of England will have access to “London-style” powers if they want it.
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As stated in the strategy, Mr Gove’s plans would bring all existing initiatives together into 12 “national missions”, and set up a system for measuring progress.
Among the 12 missions are promises to refocus education spending on disadvantaged parts of the country and eliminate illiteracy and innumeracy, bring the rest of the country’s public transport up to London standards, and provide access to 5G broadband for the “large majority” of households.
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There’s also the aim to have wellbeing improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.
✅ Jobs ✅ Investment ✅ Opportunity ✅ Regeneration ✅ Health and wellbeing ✅ Education and training ✅ Empowering communities
— Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Gov (@mhclg) February 2, 2022
Other missions identified include significantly increasing the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training in every area of the UK, and renters having a secure path to property ownership, with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas.
Derelict urban sites in 20 towns and cities will be targeted for redevelopment, with Sheffield and Wolverhampton the first places selected for this.
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One of the crucial parts of the plan for this region includes £100 million of new government funding for “innovation accelerators” to boost research and development in Greater Manchester, as well in West Midlands and Glasgow City-Region.
Speaking ahead of the publishing of the white paper, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story. We have one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies, ours is the world’s most spoken language [and] we have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country other than America.
“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success [and] for decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued.
“As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline.”
The strategy has been unveiled by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove / Credit: Number 10 / Pippa Fowels (via Flickr)
“Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery,” he continued.
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“This will not be an easy task, and it won’t happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured that levelling up is the “defining mission of this government”, adding that this “comprehensive and ambitious” is a “vision for the future”.
New Natural History GCSE to be introduced in ‘landmark moment’ for education
Emily Sergeant
A new Natural History GCSE is set to be introduced to the curriculum in the UK in what is being described as a ‘landmark moment’ for education.
Young people will soon be able to grow the knowledge and skills they need for future careers shaped by science, technology and environmental change, as the new Natural History GCSE is now one step closer to being taught in classrooms.
The new qualification will see students study three core areas – habitats and wildlife in the UK, human influence on the natural world, and the study of climate change, biodiversity loss and conservation.
It will also include time outside of the classroom for fieldwork, giving students an opportunity to, quite literally, get their hands dirty and apply their knowledge and skills by studying real habitats in their local area.
The introduction of the Natural History GCSE comes as jobs in sustainable sectors and so-called ‘green careers’ continue to rise in demand, according to the Government – with around 900 UK businesses in nature-related sectors raising £2.8 billion in 2025, supporting 21,000 jobs in total.
A new Natural History GCSE is set to be introduced in the UK in what is a ‘landmark moment’ for education / Credit: Department of Education (Supplied)
Now, with plans to introduce the new subject, a 12-week consultation has been launched to seek views from pupils, parents, teachers, and the green industry on the proposed subject content.
What we do know, however, is that at the heart of the new GCSE is a ‘deep understanding’ of UK habitats and wildlife pupils will find around them.
By learning to use scientific models – such as taxonomic keys and food webs – the GCSE will ask students to understand how habitats form, and how changes on Earth affect forms of wildlife differently, while also learning how the UK’s landscape has changed over time, giving young people the historical context to make sense of changes that are happening today.
The subject content will also examine human influences on the natural world, such as urbanisation, fishing and deforestation, as well as conservation approaches, while exploring how everyday actions – from wildlife-friendly gardens to reduced mowing of roadside verges – can support biodiversity.
“As we move into a world where careers are being increasingly shaped by science, technology and environmental change, it’s crucial young people have the skills for the jobs of tomorrow,” commented Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson.
“This new GCSE will help students build a strong understanding of the natural world, alongside the knowledge, skills and hands-on experience to access careers in some of the UK’s fastest growing sectors.
“With extensive fieldwork built in, the GCSE will also get young people out and about exploring local parks, rivers and more – a critical part of childhood as more and more of our worlds are taken up by screens.”
Featured Image – Dmitry Zvolskiy (via Unsplash)
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30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story
Georgina Pellant
Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.
Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.
Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.
It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.
The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.
Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.
Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.
However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.
Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.
The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.
It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
Credit: Manchester Libraries
Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.
The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.
It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd February 2022 
