SOCIAL MOBILITY has come to an end in Britain. According to the Sutton Trust, the chances of moving down the class structure are now greater than the chances of moving up. It breaks my heart that children born into poverty in my constituency today will likely die in poverty.

Yesterday the House of Commons debated the second reading of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that the Tories say will “reduce geographical, economic, social and health inequalities.”

The Bill is wide-reaching and includes the introduction of 12 levelling-up “missions” that will shape government policy across multiple departments. But the proposals fail to address the structural problems in our economy that are holding back the life chances of millions of people.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the Tories’ “levelling-up” announcements over the last few years.

Since 2020 the government has awarded £1.7 billion in “levelling-up” funding to different bidders who are made to compete with one another. The pot of money will eventually total £4.8bn. This figure does not even come close to reversing the funding cuts the Tories have made to local budgets since 2010.

It’s the equivalent of someone stealing your ten pound note, giving you back a pound coin and expecting you to be grateful.

But research by my office has found that the money that has been awarded in England through the Levelling Up Fund, Brownfield Fund and Community Renewal Fund, isn’t even reaching the places that need it most.

• Of the 20 constituencies with the highest levels of deprivation, 95 per cent did not receive funding.
• Of the 20 constituencies with the lowest number of “top jobs,” 65 per cent did not receive funding.
• Of the 20 constituencies with the lowest number of NVQ4, 55 per cent did not receive funding.
• Of the 20 constituencies with the lowest average wages, 60 per cent did not receive funding.
• And of the 20 constituencies with the lowest social mobility according to the SM index, 70 per cent did not receive funding.

By contrast, 41 out of the 48 seats the Tories won from Labour in 2019 will be awarded finance from the Levelling Up Fund or Towns Fund.

This is nothing more than cynical pork-barrel politics that leaves some of the least prosperous communities in our country behind.

The Levelling Up Bill is not backed up by further spending commitments or economic reforms directed from the Treasury, so its scope is severely limited. The levelling-up “missions” are little more than sloganeering.

The Bill will do nothing to reverse decades of deindustrialisation, which has hollowed out communities like mine. Nor will it tackle the fact that the financialisation of our economy continues to suck wealth, investment and opportunity out of these areas and actively holds them back.

The Conservatives are not levelling up, they’re doubling down on the same poisonous policies that have produced mass deprivation and growing inequality between regions and within communities.

The only way to build lasting change is to restructure the economy so it delivers for all areas of the country. Only a radical economic transformation will work.

We need, as a first step, a massive investment programme on the scale of the Marshall Aid Plan after World War II that targets the areas that have been held back and invests in decent jobs, public services and local economies.

Some will ask, how can we afford it? Britain is one of the richest countries in the world. But where is that wealth? It is not in areas across the north, or indeed elsewhere. It is in the hands of a very small group of people including a tiny number of big corporations. That is why we need a wealth tax to help fund the economic transformation that is required.

Last year I released a report that showed how we could raise approximately £490bn in five years through a wealth tax. That is £98bn a year. This additional revenue could be used to create a dynamic green economy focused on growth and investment and to rebuild our public services after 12 years of Tory neglect.

The held back communities of our country are expecting the Tories to keep their promises to level up. But the Tories will never spearhead a crusade to reduce inequality in our country. Their only crusade is defending wealth and privilege.

Jon Trickett is MP for Hemsworth — @jon_trickett.