Drive for full fiscal devolution for England to deliver infrastructure, says Labour

The West Midlands Combined Authority wants to maximise the benefits of HS2 station proposed for the city through further investment.© Copyright Robin Stott and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The West Midlands Combined Authority wants to maximise the benefits of HS2 station proposed for the city through further investment.© Copyright Robin Stott and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Labour is set to seek to trump the Conservatives' drive for devolution to deliver infrastructure improvements as the new shadow minister for local government demands full fiscal devolution in England as well as Scotland, it has been reported.

Gareth Thomas will say that Brexit means that Scottish devolution needs to be reproduced in England's regions, including income tax-raising powers, The Guardian reported. He is expected to say that "when England voted to take back control, it wasn't voting for even more of the same from Westminster. England needs its ministers to understand that Whitehall can seem just as distant as Brussels if you're struggling to get by in Hull or Falmouth, Sunderland or Southampton.

"Local areas should be given more control over how they raise revenue... And if we're going to, as in time we should, devolve more responsibility over services like education, housing, infrastructure and health, then at some point we'll also need to look at localising elements of VAT and income tax."

The move comes after the Conservatives backed further devolution for the West Midlands, whose combined authority is pushing for fiscal devolution.