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My speech in full, from Wednesday’s adjournment debate on A1 safety. I want to see all options on the table for making this main route safer.

‘The A1 dominates the lives of my constituents in North Northumberland. It is unsafe, lacks resilience and capacity, and is not fit for the future of a region that is booming in tourism and has so much to offer. It hangs over every journey that my constituents make.’

‘We want to be a generous, opening and welcome country. But we are also concerned about the lack of control that successive governments have had over our own borders.’

‘Mr Speaker, two months ago, my constituent, and farmer, Ian McKie, was subjected to a burglary in which his workshop was broken into, and a quad bike was stolen.’

“When the Stranger says: “What is the meaning of this city ?
Do you huddle close together because you love each other?”
What will you answer? “We all dwell together
To make money from each other”? or “This is a community”?
– TS Eliot, Choruses from the Rock

If we are to make good on the promises that we made to the country in 2024 to tackle the cost of living, to deal with immigration fairly and effectively, to restore our national economy, to re-build our armed forces and to see the return of a more cohesive, hopeful society, then we cannot carry on with the approach we have taken in the first two years of this Labour government.

My latest statement on the A1, after old arguments are rehashed online by members of other political parties…

The Labour Rural Research Group has opened a new investigation into the rural economy. What are your experiences of doing business in rural Northumberland? You can have your say in our consultation before 6th May.