Black Country can boom once more, says Sir Keir Starmer as he launches election campaign in Dudley

The Labour leader was in Dudley with his deputy Angela Rayner and mayoral candidate Richard Parker for the national launch of the party's campaign in the May local elections.

Sir Keir told the Express & Star Dudley could once more become a vibrant commercial centre, but to deliver that there would need to be a detailed plan for economic growth and regeneration.

He said Boris Johnson's 'levelling-up' agenda had been a laudable aim, but that the former prime minister had failed to put in the 'hard yards' to see it through.

"It can become a thriving town again," he said.

"We will work to rebuild Dudley and similar areas across the country, with the hard yards and a viable plan to grow the economy."

He said many parts of Britain were resigned to the expectation that managed decline was the best they could hope for, but this should not be the case.

"We need a viable plan, we need to do the hard yards," he said.

"We need to grow the economy in every part of the country, not to have it grow in some areas, but not in others."

Sir Keir promised to bring 'full fat' devolution to the area.

But, quoting former prime minister Theresa May, he warned there would be no 'magic money tree' to bail out councils teetering on the verge of effective bankruptcy.

Sir Keir said the Conservatives had built up the hopes of people in areas such as the Black Country with promises of addressing regional inequalities, but had broken the trust by failing to deliver.

The party chose the Black Country and Marches Institute for Technology in Tipton Road, Dudley, for the launch of the campaign.

Mrs Rayner pointed out that the site was where Boris Johnson announced the start of his levelling-up programme in 2020.