Grimsby has been held up as an example of how the right investment in a town can stop the brain drain.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joined his Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up, Lisa Nandy, as she made her first pledge in the role - aiming to ensure young people don鈥檛 have to 鈥済et out to get on鈥.
They joined business and community leaders to hear of the successes and challenges faced by the town, after Ms Nandy toured Orsted鈥檚 拢14 million East Coast Hub - home to 400 green energy workers.
Read more:Trade minister won鈥檛 be drawn on Boris Johnson鈥檚 future as Prime Minister
And while the green industrial revolution鈥檚 monumental growth in the Humber region excited, issues around multi-generational poverty, minimum wage working dependency, county lines drug gangs and a proliferation of absentee landlords were noted.
Sir Keir said: 鈥淭he confidence and aspiration, showing people what they can do and understanding the deep-seated nature of the disbelief is very, very important.
鈥淢ost important thing is that this has to come from Grimsby, it has to be something which we as politicians aren鈥檛 good enough at. We care, but we think sitting in London with a map is the way to do it, and it is done with good intention.鈥
Drawing on the City of Culture journey north of the river, he said: 鈥淗ull did it, and is doing it, Grimsby is doing it, but it has got to come from you so we can take it away and help implement it, not come here and say 鈥業鈥檒l tell you what you want here鈥.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the difference, we need to do politics differently. If you are going to be able to do what you need to, we need to do it differently. We need to empower what happens here, help decide what happens and find what needs to be done in London to support it here.
鈥淭hat does mean the next Labour government has to be bold enough to say we will put decision making in Grimsby, we will put resources in Grimsby, the plans come from Grimsby and we support it.
鈥淧ower, decision making infrastructure, resourcing, it has to be done that way.鈥
That had been the plan under the Grimsby Town Deal, the pioneering role given by the Conservatives, however frustration has previously been sounded about how a special relationship with Westminster hasn鈥檛 emerged.
Of his take on what he鈥檇 heard, Sir Keir said: 鈥淭here is a very, very strong sense of identity, of place, of pride in Grimsby, and whether it is renewable, or other forms of energy, whether it is what we do with children and young people coming out of school and the support they need, the ideas are all here.
鈥淭hey need to be brought together and they need the ear of government that actually hears the ambition that is here in Grimsby and matches it with the resource, the decision making, the infrastructure, that will actually help that come about.鈥
How Sir Keir responded to other key issues raised:
On giving parity to apprenticeship and degree choices, with chief marketing officer of smart eco-tech business MyEnergi, Jordan Brompton, telling how an army of electrical engineers and coders will be needed:
鈥淭he support around children - what happens in school is only a small part of what happens around it - and I couldn鈥檛 agree more about the non-university skills. We don鈥檛 value things equally.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need a massive emphasis on not going or going to university. Skills are just as important, just as difficult and just as necessary.
鈥淚 feel very, very strongly about that. My Dad was a toolmaker, he went straight into engineering and for the rest of his life looked down upon because he hadn鈥檛 gone to university.鈥
On the devolution model, with Grimsby having a strong identity yet struggling to find the perfect regional development model that suits public and private interests:
鈥淚f we are to build on the success, and the history and tradition of Grimsby - a fantastic long rich history - then it is going to require lots of different leaders. I was talking to leaders in their own community, leaders in their own businesses, no one elected leader can do this on their own.
鈥淚t is about that collective. It is also about a government that matches that ambition and a way of doing politics.
"For me it is very important when I鈥檓 talking about the future of Grimsby to be in Grimsby talking to people here. Not sitting in London saying 鈥榗ome and see me, give me your ideas鈥 . You need to see it for yourself and hear it. I鈥檝e been really energised, there are a lot of fantastic ideas, a real sense of Grimsby having a great future. We just need a government that is going to match that ambition and the next Labour government will do that.鈥
And if the 鈥榬ed wall鈥 is to be rebuilt, would he like to see Melanie Onn, who was chairing the meeting, back on the benches with him?
鈥淒efinitely. She was a fantastic Member of Parliament, and to see Melanie today, doing what she has always done, which is representing her communities, proud, so proud of her communities, shows you exactly what you need in a very good MP.鈥
On the push to ensure Sue Gray鈥檚 report into lockdown Downing Street gatherings is published in full:
鈥淲e will pursue it all of the way, after what the country has been through in the last year or two, when people made huge sacrifices, the least the public are entitled to is the full truth about what the Prime Minister has been up to. We will not rest until we get that full truth.鈥
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