It was a real honour and a privilege to be the keynote speaker at the launch of the Northern Caucus in Westminster. This group will unite the voice of the North in Parliament.
In my experience of growing up in the North, representing a Northern constituency and now making Ministerial decisions with the North in mind, I can see that if the North wins, Britain does too.
With more MPs scrapping for every vote in the North than before combined with our Prime Minister representing North Yorkshire, never before has the North been such a decisive political player.
We are now seeing what real investment in the North looks like. Huge investment going into our local transport, like with the £160 million for County Durham’s buses as well as millions into manufacturing like at Nissan, times have really changed.
Previous MPs have taken the North for granted. I am glad to see this has changed and I will never stop banging the drum for the North but there is always more work to be done.