NORTH Belfast Sinn Féin MP John Finucane has said the British government’s so-called ‘Levelling Up' fund is a power grab aimed at further undermining local democracy.

Tories say the £4.8 billion will be invested in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport and investing in cultural and heritage assets.

In October 2021, the government revealed the successful bids for the first round of the £4.8bn Levelling-Up fund — a replacement for the EU Structural Fund (ESF) programme.

Belfast received around £6m for projects including electric vehicle charging network (£3.7m) and production equipment for the Screen Media Innovation Lab.

Dundonald Ice Bowl received £12.2m for a refurb.

The second round of applications opens on May 31 and will run until July 6.

Speaking to the North Belfast News, Mr Finucane criticised the scheme.

“Claims by the British government that they are giving power back to the local community are misleading and patent nonsense," he said.

“In reality, this is nothing more than a power grab by the Tories.

“They are taking decisions over the heads of locally elected ministers and undermining the people who elect them.

“No-one seriously believes that a Tory government that has fed inequality, implemented cruel austerity policies and cut public services for over a decade has any interest in levelling up anything.

“This scheme should have been implemented through ministers elected on the island of Ireland, not by Boris Johnson’s ministers who haven’t got a single vote here.

“This continual impingement and interference on the devolved arrangements cannot continue. The moves being made by the Tories to relocate civil servants to Belfast later this year also smacks of a power grab by London. The same approach has been applied to Scotland and Wales with repeated attempts to undermine the autonomy of the devolved regions.”

A UK government spokesperson said: "Through the Levelling Up fund, the UK Government provided over £6 million to Belfast for two projects.

"The funding will pay to replace and provide additional electrical vehicle charging points, creating a charging network across Northern Ireland, and it will pay for production equipment at the Screen Media Innovation Lab in Belfast."