Speaking at the presentation of the government’s new digital strategy on Thursday, Heather Wheeler, a junior minister in the Cabinet, said: “I was just attending a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere spontaneously.” Wheeler then apologized in a tweet, saying that “she made an inappropriate remark that did not reflect [her] real point of view “. Labor adviser Lynn Williams said the comments were particularly disappointing because the government was supposed to be working alongside the city of Lancashire to address social deprivation as part of its flagship upgrade program. “We know we have a lot of social inequalities to deal with and we are actually going to work with the government to address them as part of the leveling program, so yes, it’s just frustrating,” he said. The transparency of the program, which has been a cornerstone of the government platform since 2019, has been called into question by leaders outside London claiming that some promised investment has not been received and other funds have been channeled to Conservative headquarters. Appearing on BBC Radio 4 today, Williams said the popular seaside resort “used to get some kind of ignorant and malicious comments” and begged Wheeler to “come and take a look at herself”. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST She said her remarks had made a “very crossroads” especially after the construction of the Tories Spring Conference in the city in March and the huge increase in traffic over the past two years. “We are doing something right. “People love Blackpool,” he said. Asked about Wheeler’s apology, she was not convinced. “I mean, you said it, you thought it,” he said, adding that making Blackpool and Birmingham the focus of the joke was “more proof of what true thoughts are.” Williams joins a number of key voices in her party, criticizing the junior minister’s comments. Labor Vice President Angela Reiner wrote on Twitter: “The mask has slipped. This minister has clarified what Boris Johnson Conservatives really think about our communities behind closed doors. “Disrespect is out of scale.” Lisa Nadi, the shadow foreign minister for housing, housing and communities, wrote: “We are told they are raising the level of the country, but they really believe that. They can not even tell the difference between “Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere divine.”
