After Michael Gove said that investment zones are “under review,” another of Liz Truss’s signature projects risks being shamefully abandoned.
The Levelling Up Secretary made it very obvious that the measures will soon be scrapped by declaring that anything that would harm the environment “is out.”
The regions were designed to be “full-fat” freeports with fewer regulations and maybe even cheaper taxes.
But Mr. Gove said to Sophy Ridge of Sky News on the Sunday show, “I’m evaluating them.
“We need to make sure that whatever reform we make supports economic development and excellent employment for people, but also takes into account the effect on the environment, which was one of the issues expressed regarding investment zones.
“The Prime Minister and I have been quite clear that we would never reduce environmental regulations,” they said.
“So I will be reviewing the plans that were created when Liz was prime minister with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Environment Secretary, and the Prime Minister… … anything that would jeopardize environmental safeguards is prohibited.
After her promises for unfunded tax cuts caused the markets to collapse, this is the most recent in a long list of Truss ideas that are being abandoned.
Today, Mr. Gove made an astonishing apology to the British people for the 49-day tenure Ms. Truss had under the Conservatives.
The Levelling Up Secretary said that he understood the outrage that the public felt because of the government’s “vacation from reality.”
In a piece for the Mail on Sunday, Mr. Sunak issued a further caution about “tough choices” as he and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepare a budget that is anticipated to include tax increases and expenditure cutbacks totaling £50 billion.
The Prime Minister, who took office at the weekend, stressed that inflation is the “No. 1 adversary” and that containing it is the only way to prevent interest rates from rising much further.
Suella Braverman resigned from her position as home secretary after exposing private information while working for Ms. Truss, but Mr. Sunak is now coming under fire again for the decision.
More pressure is being put on him for skipping the COP27 conference in Egypt, as the UK’s COP27 president expressed displeasure and said Boris Johnson would go.
Between Wednesday and Friday, opinion polling by Opinium revealed 28% support for the Conservatives, an increase of 5% over the prior week.
Labour’s support dropped six points to 44% at the same time.
Additionally, Mr. Sunak has retaken the lead in terms of economic acumen. In contrast to 29% who chose “a Labour administration headed by Keir Starmer,” 33% stated they would prefer “a Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak” to run the country’s economy.
In the previous week, 39% favored a Starmer administration, while just 11% preferred “a Conservative administration headed by Liz Truss.”
It comes after YouGov polling from Tuesday and Wednesday, when Mr. Sunak was elected premier and participated in his first PMQs, revealed a 28-point lead for Sir Keir’s party.
This was a decrease from the staggering 37 points registered four days before when it was unclear who would succeed Ms. Truss.
The Conservatives increased their support from 19% to 23%, while Labour saw a decline from 56% to 51%, which contributed to the narrowing.
Survation saw a similar regaining of territory, with the Tories increasing by four points in a week to 27% and Labour losing one point to 51%.