Campaigning to dual the A1

This week I have joined my fellow Labour leaders in Northumberland in calling for the A1 to be dualled. 

Hexham MP Joe Morris, North-East Mayor Kim McGuinness, Labour Group Leader Scott Dickinson and I have now asked for heavyweight investment for this main route, in a letter to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. You can read the letter in full below.

We must recognise the enormous human cost of this dangerous road – which has claimed eight lives already this year and impacted many more.  

Improving road safety in Northumberland 

The dualling of the 50 miles of A1 between Morpeth and Berwick is a totemic issue for Northumberland and increasingly for the wider North East.  

While it cannot prevent every accident, it can improve road safety and show that our beautiful region is as important as the rest of the UK. 

The rule book that decides whether Government investment is value for money has been updated under Labour, making it easier for rural and deprived areas to receive investment. This creates a meaningful opportunity for us to make this ask.  

We need and deserve a safer A1 

While HS2 continues to be allocated tens of billions of pounds in public resources, a far smaller amount of funding cannot seemingly be found to improve the main route from London to Scotland. 

I have always wanted dualling in the long-term and my short-term focus has been on securing sensible safety improvements from Morpeth to Berwick. We need and deserve both. 

Now we’ve got some initial improvements secured we can turn our attention to getting the much larger investment the road ultimately needs. I want dualling to be part of the conversation for the sake and safety of my constituents and all who use this major road. 

Finally, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to our emergency services, for their unwavering skills and expertise in handling so many tragedies this year. They are the unsung heroes of this moment. 

Letter in full

 To: Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Dear Rachel,

We are writing to urge you to give serious consideration to the long-overdue dualling of the A1 through Northumberland, a project of growing importance not only to local communities but to the economic future of the wider North East and North of England.

Your recent review of the criteria that the Treasury uses for value for money investments has led to a greater emphasis on place-based benefits and social value. This means that broader economic and social benefits of infrastructure projects can be considered when the Government is making investment decisions.

We thank you for this review. Given this important shift, we believe there is a compelling case for the Government to revisit the dualling of the A1 through Northumberland as a strategic infrastructure priority. The scheme has the potential to strengthen connectivity, drive economic growth, improve network resilience, and unlock significant opportunities across the North East.

The dualling of the 50 miles of A1 between Morpeth and Berwick is a totemic issue for Northumberland and increasingly for the wider North East. It is an issue decades in the making, which successive governments – most recently the 2010-2024 Conservative Government – have failed to substantially address

Many residents across Northumberland view the incomplete route as evidence that rural northern communities are consistently overlooked when major transport decisions are made. While HS2 continues to be allocated tens of billions of pounds in public resources, a far smaller amount of funding has not been found to improve the main route from London to Scotland: a route with long single lane stretches, dangerous junctions and, most worryingly, a growing death toll.

If this Labour Government that is doing so much investment into public infrastructure could make progress on the A1 we could save countless lives, restore confidence and cement our role as the champion of our Northern communities.

For many years, our constituents have felt the pain of infrastructure appraisal processes that tend to favour areas with larger populations and higher existing economic activity. The changes that you have made to the investment rules provide an important opportunity to take another look at the dualling of the A1 throughout Northumberland. There is a strong case for reviewing how strategic investments are assessed, particularly where they can unlock economic growth, boost tourism, improve connectivity, enhance resilience and support regional rebalancing.

Above all else though, we must start to recognise the enormous human cost of this dangerous road – which has claimed eight lives already this year and impacted many more.

For all of these reasons, the A1 will remain a significant local and regional campaign topic going forward. Northumbrians are looking for action rather than further studies or delays.

A clear commitment to how these new investment rules apply to the dualling of the A1 would demonstrate:

• A genuine commitment to regional growth.
• Recognition of the challenges facing rural communities.
• Support for economic development beyond major cities.
• A willingness to address historic imbalances in infrastructure investment.
• Understanding that transport connectivity is fundamental to economic opportunity.

Too often, transport investment discussions focus on metropolitan areas while rural networks receive insufficient attention despite being essential to local economies, communities and national connectivity. The North cannot be expected to compete economically while lacking the infrastructure that many other parts of the country take for granted.

We therefore encourage you to commit to:

1. An assessment of what investment rule changes mean for the efficacy of dualling the entirety of the A1 between Morpeth and Berwick.
2. A firm timetable and funding commitment for full dualling of the A1 in Northumberland, with spades in the ground before the next General Election.
3. A broader strategy to address the historic underfunding of rural transport infrastructure.

Such action would deliver economic benefits for generations and send a powerful signal that the Government is committed to investing in every part of the United Kingdom.

Yours sincerely,

David Smith MP, North Northumberland

Kim McGuinness, North East Mayor

Joe Morris MP, Hexham

Scott Dickinson, Leader, Northumberland Labour Group

Previous work on the A1

First Upgrades secured for A1 in over a decade | David Smith MP

My latest statement on the A1 | David Smith MP