BORIS Johnson’s first major speech on his signature social policy has been branded “gibberish” after he asked the public to email him with suggestions to help make it work.

The Prime Minister admitted he was offering a “skeleton” of plans to deliver his ‘levelling up’ agenda, but said more devolution for England would be a key plank of it.

The Prime Minister admitted he was offering a “skeleton” of plans to deliver his ‘levelling up’ agenda and reduce inequality, but said more devolution for England was key.

Speaking at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry, Mr Johnson said regional leaders could get new powers and promised investment in policing, infrastructure, education and regeneration, but with little sense of how they would mesh together.

He said town leaders should have “the tools to make things happen for their communities” and "to do that we must take a more flexible approach to devolution in England.

“We need to rewrite the rulebook. There is no reason why our great counties cannot benefit from the same powers we’ve devolved to city leaders. One possibility is a directly elected mayor for individual counties.

"And if you can think of a better title than mayor for somebody who represents a county then please send me an email.”

Although Downing Street insisted the speech was about levelling up the whole of the UK, it was primarily focused on England.

Stung by the Tory loss in the Amersham & Chesham byelection, Mr Johnson insisted helping the deprived north would not be to the detriment of the affluent south.

He said: “Levelling up is not a jam-spreading operation, it’s not robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s not zero sum – it’s win-win for the whole United Kingdom.”

His sole new policy was £50m next year for local football pitches.

More details are due to be published in the autumn.

In a media Q&A, Mr Johnson also appeared to rule out a tax on sugar and salt in food to combat obesity recommended by a Government-commissioned report. 

“I’m not, I must say, attracted to the idea of extra taxes on hardworking people,” he said.

The PM’s former aide Dominic Cummings called the speech “a joke”, and said his old boss had come up with the “vacuous slogan” levelling up in the 2019 election.

Writing on his website, Mr Cummings said that when asked what it meant, the PM’s reply was “burble… It’s not levelling down it’s levelling up, buses, bikes, beauty.”

Labour described Mr Johnson's speech as "gibberish nonsense"

Leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “It is all soundbites and no substance, which is absolutely typical of this Prime Minister. He has given a speech on levelling up which has got nothing in it.

“He promises jam tomorrow – that is what this Prime Minister does – but there is no delivery. The Government has been in power for 11 years. They need to be judged on that record.

“The words ‘levelling up’ are no substitute for a regional strategy that brings money, resource, infrastructure, skills all together around a regional plan. 

"That is what Labour would do.

"“The Prime Minister has got two words and nothing behind them.”

SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP added: “For all the meaningless empty rhetoric, the fact remains that levels of poverty and inequality in the UK have risen to record levels on Boris Johnson's watch - and planned UK government austerity cuts will make this growing Tory poverty crisis even worse.

"You can't level up by making millions of people poorer - but that is exactly what will happen as a result of Tory plans to impose a public sector pay freeze and slash Universal Credit by £1,040 for six million families.

"It is now clear beyond doubt that the Tory government has absolutely no intention of building a fair recovery. The only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory cuts is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to secure a strong, fair and equal recovery.

"Scotland is increasingly vulnerable under Westminster control. For every step we take forwards to build a more equal society, the Tories are dragging us backwards again with cuts that will wipe out the benefits of progressive SNP policies like the Scottish Child Payment.

"The UK has had the worst levels of poverty and inequality of any country in north west Europe under every Tory and Labour government over the past twenty years. Only independence can protect Scotland from Westminster and give Scotland the powers required for a fair society."