The prime minister must commit to levelling up England’s struggling seaside towns, or risk a political “tidal wave” at the next general election, a Conservative think tank has warned.
In a report titled Troubled Waters, the think tank Onward shows that communities within 5km of England’s coast are poorer, sicker and more crime-ridden than their inland neighbours – and calls for a £500m regeneration package.
Onward suggests this could be modelled on the Biden administration’s Recompete Pilot in the US, which is investing in economically deprived areas. It suggests giving local bodies powers over infrastructure, planning and skills as part of the scheme.
