The government has been accused of “bribing” MPs to back Theresa May‘s Brexit deal after announcing a new £1.6bn fund to help deprived towns.

The “Stronger Towns Fund“ will offer investment to places that have not benefited from economic growth as much as other parts of the country, ministers said.

The government said the money would be used to create jobs, train local people and boost investment, but critics said it was an attempt to convince Labour MPs in Leave-voting areas to back Ms May’s withdrawal agreement, and was not enough to offset the impact of Brexit.

£1bn of the funding will be allocated to areas across the country, with more than half going to towns in the north of England. The other £600m will be available for local authorities to bid for.

Of the money being directly allocated by the government, the north west will receive the most, with £281m, followed by the west Midlands (£212m) and Yorkshire and the Humber (£197m).

Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Undated handout photo issued by Led by Donkeys of their billboard featuring a blank tweet in Jeremy Corbyn's Islington North constituency in protest over what they claim is his lack of leadership on Brexit. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday February 12, 2019. For the past month, campaign group Led by Donkeys has been putting up posters all over the country featuring quotes mostly from hard-Brexit MPs which claimed the process of leaving the EU would be easy. The Labour leader is the group's latest target because of his failure to back a second referendum on Brexit. See PA story PROTEST Donkeys. Photo credit should read: Led by Donkeys /PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter

Announcing the fund, Ms May said: ”For too long in our country prosperity has been unfairly spread. Our economy has worked well for some places but we want it to work for all communities.

“Communities across the country voted for Brexit as an expression of their desire to see change – that must be a change for the better, with more opportunity and greater control.

“These towns have a glorious heritage, huge potential and, with the right help, a bright future ahead of them.”

But critics said the move, announced just over a week before MPs are due to vote again on Ms May’s Brexit deal, was designed to buy the support of Labour MPs in Leave areas.

Ms May has talked about increasing funding for deprived communities as part of a package of measures that No 10 hopes will help win MPs’ support for her deal.

Another element – an announcement of guarantees on workers’ rights and environmental protections – is expected this week.

Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said: “This towns fund smacks of desperation from a government reduced to bribing MPs to vote for their damaging flagship Brexit legislation.

“The reason our towns are struggling is because of a decade of cuts, including to council funding and a failure to invest in businesses and our communities.”

Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Show all 12 1 /12 Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Liverpool Subverting the message of peace preached by one of the city’s favourite sons. War continues and is never really over Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Bolton A boarded-up shop front painted with Friday night vomit. Regurgitated food and liquid and bile adorn British weekend streets. It’s the sign of a body saving itself from self-poisoning Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Preston The bus station is a grade II-listed building. There are wonderful frames, with leading lines, repetitions of numbers and angles, soft light, hanging clocks. People wait to be taken elsewhere Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Carlisle The first thing I see in the city is a drunk man lying on the floor of the train station. He can’t walk, is completely unresponsive, and has a blank, vacant expression on his face, as if he’d just had his memory erased Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Liverpool Dismantling the tree of love, one heart at a time, until it’s bare and loveless and wintry. The city has made love one of its symbols since the Beatles told the world it’s all you need. I wonder what will become of these plastic hearts Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Blackburn Making a joint with one arm under angels, the other in a sling. I don’t stick around to find out how he rolls it, singlehandedly or otherwise Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Preston People browse the outdoor market, tempted into sales. I’m there to look at them, and in this scene they mix with boxes of music in working order, a Disney wink, and a limp Union Jack Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Liverpool I’m impressed how humans are dwarfed by human-made structures in the urban environment. The building is gigantic, geometrically solid and powerfully symmetrical, while the tiny man slouches, humanly imperfect and asymmetrical Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Blackburn The play on words for this new development is a footer to the town’s skyline, along which run the grey heights of a multi-storey carpark, Chapel Street Church spire, and the faint tops of houses Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Carlisle I’m led into the train station by a man on his mobility scooter. I photograph him and his sign, then take the train to Preston. I thought it was strange how someone could be so proud of a city, with all its details and complexities Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Bolton It’s one of the sickly contradictions of advertising: you can save money by spending it. Here it is presented as the headline of Bolton market, put so simply, yet still so complicated Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northwest England Liverpool When people stop to speak to rough sleepers it always looks so unbalanced. The different social positions of the interaction are exaggerated by the visual dimensions, with passer-by almost always standing above, leaning over, talking down Richard Morgan/The Independent

And Anna Soubry, The Independent Group’s Brexit spokesperson, said: “Investment in skills and training is always welcome but we need to go behind this new fund and see it for what it is – a desperate measure to buy votes, and sadly this government has a strong record on that score.

“The support of the DUP was secured with a £1bn bung-for-votes to prop up the government after it lost its majority. Now Theresa May is so desperate to get votes for her bad withdrawal agreement she is relying on the same old trick.”

But James Brokenshire, the housing and communities secretary, insisted the fund showed that the government was listening to MPs’ concerns.

He said: “We have listened to people who are concerned by momentous changes to their communities and I am determined to provide the support they need to create a more prosperous future beyond Brexit.