Mail Weekly Column: 11 September 2023
Last week Parliament returned after a long summer recess. After a couple of months exclusively spent in Furness on my summer surgery tour, meeting with local businesses, and working with Government officials like the Cabinet Secretary to bring further investment into Furness’ infrastructure, it was a drag getting back on the (very hot) Tube to Westminster. But that said, it has been a busy week talking to Ministers about Furness, the issues that people have raised with me, and about getting projects over the line and delivered.
On Tuesday I met with the Chancellor and fed back on the visit by the Cabinet Secretary and the senior civil service to Furness to form ‘Team Barrow’ - the unit of civil servants, Council leaders, BAE and myself who are working together to ensure that our infrastructure (everything from roads to rail, school capacity to GP places, housing offer to high streets) is in the right place to attract and retain people to meet the challenge of delivering Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS, the submarine partnership between Australia, the US and the UK. Thanks to the Government’s commitment to the shipyard it has presented a huge opportunity for our community, and my job is to keep Ministers excited and alive to the challenge ahead and what we need in order to meet it.
On Friday I took the time to meet with Cash Access about the plans for a new banking hub in Ulverston. I’ve been arguing for almost a decade for a shared banking hub to be established in town - allowing all the major banks to maintain a presence in Ulverston under one roof and offering decent opening hours for local residents and businesses. Finally we are in a position where one is coming, albeit because Lloyds have made their announcement that their branch is to close. Cash Access will be responsible for delivering this new shared bank.
On Friday we talked about opening hours, maintaining access to cash during festivals, and potential locations. A couple have already been identified and I will keep you posted as things develop.
While Lloyds’ decision is a massive disappointment, a banking hub will be a genuine improvement for local people, offering dependable 9-5 hours all week, full counter services run by the Post Office, and access to the five largest banks. We will be much better served with it.
Alongside those meetings, I caught up with a range of Ministers on constituency issues and on behalf of constituents, met with the Security Minister to discuss Cyber Security and reform to the Computer Misuse Act, and popped in to the Sankey Exhibition at Cooke’s Studios in Barrow. If you have the time, I highly recommend a visit. Few communities are as fortunate to have their history recorded in such vivid detail.
Next week in Parliament is Nuclear Week - this will provide an opportunity to further make the case for new nuclear, meet apprentices from Furness already working in the nuclear industry, and to catch up with representatives from Sellafield, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Rolls Royce (whose Small Modular Reactor design is based on the submarine engines we use in Barrow), and many more. I am looking forward to it, and the chance to lobby strongly for new nuclear up the coast, further cementing the Cumbrian Coast as one of the most exciting places in the UK for renewable energy, and the jobs and investment that flows from such projects.
