Stronger Towns Fund: £1.6bn post-Brexit cash announced

A £1.6bn government fund has been launched to boost less well-off towns in England after Brexit. The pot is split into £1bn, divided in England using a needs-based formula, and £600m communities can bid for. More than half of the money, to be spread over seven years, will go to the north of England and the Midlands. Labour called it a bribe to influence MPs to back the PM's Brexit deal and critics say it does not cover cuts to local authority funding.