Earlier this week, I met with Andy Burnham and other Greater Manchester MPs to make clear our collective support for the ‘Northern Arc’ vision in advance of the upcoming Spending Review. Our region is among the fastest growing in the whole UK but, as we see in Heywood and Middleton North for example, infrastructure and a lack of connectivity for too many communities is holding us back and risks limiting our potential. This bold plan promises to link a number of growing economic hubs throughout the North West, across the Pennines and connecting us into West and South Yorkshire.

One of my central goals as your Member of Parliament is to improve transport connectivity for my constituents and ensure that they are wired into the Greater Manchester economy, and that our city region is brought closer to other growing hubs through enhanced transport links. To achieve these goals, we must work together – across Parliament and at regional and local levels. The scheme has my full support, and I will continue to speak up for my constituents and ensure that a lack of access to transport links can no longer hamper their opportunities, their ambitions and their daily lives.