Brexit: and the Stronger Towns Fund not getting as far as East Devon

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum mid-2016, it was clear that more attention would have to be made to local communities:
Futures Forum: Brexit: and looking beyond revolt: "If we’ve learned one thing in the last week, it is that communities – not Westminster - must agree what works for them."
Futures Forum: Brexit: and democracy: "Ordinary voters never took much interest. Perhaps they didn’t care whether they were ruled by a faraway elite in Brussels or ditto in Westminster."

Especially their economic development:
Futures Forum: Brexit: and delivering economic development across the UK whilst protecting Devon and Cornwall
Futures Forum: Brexit: and providing good quality jobs

Including in seaside towns:
Futures Forum: Brexit: and boosting coastal towns and fisheries

However, cash for local government was not forthcoming:
Futures Forum: Brexit: and local democracy ... of devolution and cuts in local government

Now, almost three years later, there is suddenly a promise of an injection of cash into local economies:
£1.6 billion Stronger Towns Fund launched - GOV.UK

This has nothing to do with upcoming votes on Brexit of course: 

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

8 hours ago
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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.

In January, MPs rejected the withdrawal deal Theresa May has reached with the EU by 230 votes - the biggest defeat for a sitting government in history. To win another vote, which Mrs May has promised will be on or before 12 March, she could find herself relying on the votes of Labour MPs from Leave-voting parts of the country.

John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, a former coal mining area in Nottinghamshire, told the PM last month to "show us the money" with "transformative investment" in areas that voted to leave. The Labour MP, who backed Mrs May's Brexit deal at the first vote, denied it amounted to "transactional politics".

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

Other media get more to the point with their observations - at home: 

Martin Rowson on May's Brexit 'bribe' for poorer towns – cartoon | Opinion | The Guardian
£1.6bn 'bribe' for poorer towns as May seeks Labour's backing for Brexit deal | Politics | The Guardian
Brexit: May accused of 'bribing' Labour MPs as new £1.6bn fund for deprived towns unveiled | The Independent
Brexit: Theresa May accused of bribery with £1bn to help towns | News | The Times
Ruth Smeeth MP says Theresa May's fund for towns is 'pathetic' - i-news

And abroad:
May Accused of Buying Brexit Votes With $2 Billion for Towns - Bloomberg
May's £1.6bn giveaway for Brexit towns has a big hole - Yahoo Finance
Brexit: Prime Minister Theresa May Accused of 'Bribe' Over New Fund | Fortune

And in East Devon: 

Tory MP complains that Government isn’t giving Brexit bribes to South West MPs – because the region voted Conservative!

POSTED ON MARCH 4, 2019

The Government has announced its bribes to towns in order to persuade MPs, mainly Labour, to vote for its miserable Brexit deal. Although it claims to have used a “need-based formula,” the South West is to receive the second-lowest allocation of cash (£33 million) despite being among England’s most deprived regions. 

Coincidentally, it also has very few Labour MPs — and Sheryll Murray, the Tory MP for South East Cornwall, appears to have spotted the discrepancy. “The fact this money appears to be directly routed to Labour-voting areas smacks of pork-barrel politics, and the public will know that,” Murray complains to The Times. “It would be a crying shame if Conservative-voting communities were being disadvantaged because of the way they voted.”

Tory MP complains that Government isn’t giving Brexit bribes to South West MPs – because the region voted Conservative! « SEATON & COLYTON matters
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