James Naish MP called on the government to “overcorrect historic injustices” and reverse the East Midlands’ record of being underfunded as a region.
James Naish, Labour’s Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, presented a debate in Westminster on Tuesday, 17 March, where he called years of the region receiving a “persistently unfair share” of government money a “national policy failure”.
In front of MPs from around the region, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, Naish asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to reassure those present that the East Midlands would not be told again that “it’s time will come”.
He said: “Too many people in my constituency of Rushcliffe and across our region have heard that before. They have formed the view that the East Midlands is important, but not important enough; valued in theory, but not in practice.
“I refuse to accept this, and I’m sure many colleagues in this room refuse to accept this as well. Our region’s potential is obvious to anyone who cares to look.
“And yet, despite 5.1 million people, 403,000 businesses and our fabulous location in the heart of the UK, the East Midlands is under-recognised, under-appreciated and still does not receive its fair share of government investment. This points to a national policy failure, which this Labour government must at long last address.”
Mr Naish told the debate that the East Midlands boasts earnings below the UK average, unemployment higher than the UK average, and productivity levels – the rate of output relative to the rate of input – that sit at just 84% of the UK average.
He then referenced data collated by the East Midlands Councils Forum of local authorities, which published a report in 2025 stating that transport spend per head in the region was just 54% of the UK average in 2023–2024 – the lowest level of any UK region or nation.
Rail funding per head was even less, at just over 40% of the UK average, and just a third of the level seen in the West Midlands.
And, shockingly, figures drawn from the Treasury show that, between 2019 and 2024, after the withdrawal of HS2 plans in the region, the East Midlands received £10.8 billion less than the UK average in transport investment.
Mr Naish asked for the government to commit long-term to backing the region across all Whitehall departments, to sustained levels of public investment to correct “historic injustices”, to further devolution to “empower local communities” across the region, and to a “coherent set of tailored policy interventions”.
He said: “(This) will turn the page on what has been, for many parts of our region, a sustained sense of managed decline for over 40 years. There is a genuine need for overcorrection. Inadequate investment has suppressed our region’s potential. These things cannot come a day too soon for the East Midlands.”
In the debate, Sherwood Forest MP Michelle Welsh spoke about the problems that villagers in her “proudly rural” constituency face with public transport due to inconsistent bus services, with some places benefiting from just a single bus service and others being a “bus desert”.
She said: “For far too long, (my constituents) have been neglected. Nowhere is that neglect clearer than in public transport. Public transport is not a luxury – in rural communities, it is a lifeline.
“A young person who cannot reliably reach a college place, apprenticeship, or first job is a young person who potentially risks being lost. When those connections are weak, we limit the ambitions of our young people and the productivity of our communities, but when people can travel easily, affordably and reliably, we unlock opportunities.
“Where you grow up should not determine how far you can go. No young person’s future should be limited by a failing transport network.”
And Mansfield MP Steve Yemm said that the wages of those living in the East Midlands reflect the productivity gap seen in the data presented by James Naish.
He said: “If we are serious about raising living standards in the region, we have to close that gap. Investment drives that productivity. It enables businesses to purchase better equipment, adopt new technologies, expand production and so forth.
“There is also a broader structural point about how investment happens in the UK. Public investment follows behind private investment. That’s a great contrast with other European countries, in particular Germany.
“We also have to recognise that economic growth should be spread across the country. Too often, our national conversation focuses on a small number of already prosperous areas.”
Minister Fahnbulleh said that analysis by the Resolution Foundation showed that UK productivity grew more last year than in the previous seven years combined, but acknowledged there was “more that we need to do”.
And she suggested that devolution – giving more power and money to regional mayors such as Claire Ward at the East Midlands Combined County Authority – was “fundamental” to achieving change.
She said: “We know the impact (devolution) can have on growth and improving impacts for local people. That is why we’re giving more areas the tools and funding they need to address the challenges in their area and to realise the opportunities for growth.
“We know that investment (under Conservative governments) was skewed towards some areas to the disadvantage of others, and we are absolutely determined to turn that around and put that right. That is why we are putting record investment across all key sectors of the economy – £2 billion for transport, investment in the green economy, advanced manufacturing and defence.”
