Politics

The government’s new ‘Department for Levelling Up’ is being absolutely roasted

The government’s new ‘Department for Levelling Up’ is being absolutely roasted

Amidst the cabinet reshuffle in recent days, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been rebranded as “Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities”, and of course, you can count on Twitter to make it into an instant meme.

The new change was decided in order to underline the department’s “central mission to level up every part of the UK.”

Former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane has been appointed as the new Head of the Levelling Up Taskforce. Along with this, the department also has a new Secretary of State for Levelling Up - Michael Gove MP who helped the PM establish the task force.

A Government statement said: “The Secretary of State will drive cross-Whitehall efforts to deliver a programme of tangible improvements in every part of the UK as we build back better from the pandemic, and deliver on the people’s priorities.”

“This Government is committed to uniting and levelling up every part of the UK and I am determined that as we build back better from the pandemic we are geared up with the teams and expertise to deliver on that promise,” said prime minister Boris Johnson.

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However, some people can’t help but see the funny side of this announcement and have taken to Twitter to mock the name department name.

One person compared the name-change to something straight out of the comedy film, Zoolander.

While another thought notion of “levelling up” was a pretty ironic rebrand and shared news articles referring to how “Nearly 80 per cent of towns getting share of £725m of government funding represented by Conservative MPs.”

As another joked that the name could also be referred to when putting up shelves.

Some compared the department name change to the “Ministry of Truth” from George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

Or the Ministry of Magic perhaps?

*Queue The Thick of It reaction GIFs*

Monty Python has also been a popular comparison with someone also referencing the sketch “Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things.”

Elsewhere, someone else decided to give some other name suggestions for government departments - with a little help from Rick Astley.

Here are some more of the best reactions:

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