Pandemic won’t stop promises to North from being delivered, says Blue Wall MP

AN MP who formed a key part of the Blue Wall which washed over Yorkshire at the last election has said the Government wants to turbocharge delivering on manifesto promises in the North, despite the impact of coronavirus.

Rother Valley Tory MP Alexander Stafford said he was not surprised that Rishi Sunak’s Budget earlier this month was pinned as a Budget for the North, as he had been expecting a raft of investment in the region.

But he welcomed the “hugely significant” first opportunity for the Government to deliver on promises which have been questioned in light of coronavirus spending, as he had been assured the pandemic had only intensified Ministers’ determination to “double down on levelling up”.

“We’ve now got some sort of proof,” Mr Stafford said. “Now this is happening, there’s more money in the pot, and they are going to care about the Northern areas.”

And he added: “There’s a lot more money, a lot more investment, to come.”

Contrasting the Chancellor’s Budget with those seen in the past, Mr Stafford said it represented a “sea change” and “there’s going to be more of it”.

He referenced “ruffled feathers” of some Conservative colleagues in the south of England who questioned why funds were being concentrated on the Blue Wall.

“They want things to get going,” he said, while in the past initiatives would take “a long time and no real tangible benefit” was delivered.

Mr Stafford, who became the first non-Labour MP in Rother Valley’s 101-year history in 2019, said he had asked Mr Sunak last the summer whether the agenda would be stymied due to the colossal funds needed to tackle the coronavirus.

He said he was told “no, this is exactly the reason we need to double down on levelling up, because a lot of Northern areas have been hit hardest by the pandemic”.