02 February 2023 , 17:37
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Gaffe-prone Rishi Sunak has been accused of “fly posting” after he slapped a levelling up poster on an historic building.
The Prime Minister posed for photographs putting the slogan on the town hall in Accrington.
But locals complained after it was left up for two days when he failed to take it down.
The gaffe happened on the same day as his disastrous tour of the country on 19 January.
During a visit to Blackpool that morning he was filmed not wearing a seatbelt in the back of a car and ended up with a fine from the police.
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Rishi Sunak was fined for not wearing a seatbelt on the same trip (PA)Kimberley Whitehead, a Labour councillor who made a complaint about the poster, accused the PM of “fly posting”.
“It's a beautiful building. It's an iconic building right in the centre and then we had this ugly political slogan effectively defacing the front of the building,” she said.
Referring to Mr Sunak’s serial rule-breaking, including not wearing a seatbelt, she added: “People just rubbish these things off, but actually they are really serious. Rules are rules.”
The Prime Minister and Jeremy Hunt posed for photographs with the slogan on the town hall in Accrington (Christopher Furlong/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The Government's levelling-up mess was met by a massive outcry, with Tories accused of overlooking bids from deprived areas in favour of wealthier places.
The poster only added to Ms Whitehead’s frustration with the scheme.
She said: “The way the whole levelling up funding is set up, the fact that would have to bid to kind of compete against other people, doesn't sit well with places like here that are desperate.
“We shouldn't be having to say to them that we need help. It's pretty obvious we need help.
“Whilst we're grateful to receive some money, we've actually lost hundreds of millions in funding. So it's like, as the saying goes, they’ve taken £20 off us and they're given us £2 back.”
She also said a huge proportion of the money was going towards refurbishing the market hall into a food and drinks hub which she said “isn’t levelling up”.
“It impacts small businesses around. It's a controversial project that doesn't have the support of the people, or the public, the residents here.”
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An investigation by Hyndburn council found there was no damage done to Accrington’s Market Hall by the PM and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ’s photo stunt.
The PM’s seatbelt fine is the second fixed penalty notice he has received in less than a year.
in No10 to celebrate Boris Johnson's 56th birthday when he was chancellor.