Opinion: ‘Levelling up work has begun’

We have new Foreign and Home Secretaries and a new Chancellor of the Exchequer. All three are of minority ethnicity. In the Conservative Party, there is no limit to what anyone can achieve. This Government’s task is to ensure that applies to everyone, whatever their background and wherever they live in our country. That work had already begun through ‘levelling up’. It will continue and broaden. In fact, there’s only one group holding out: Labour continues to select white, middle-class men from North London.

I’m delighted that Liz Truss is our new Prime Minister. She is the right person for the job which she began by calling President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Her first statement to the House of Commons will set out the urgent help on energy bills needed because of Putin’s invasion. By the time you read this column, households and businesses in Peterborough should have the reassurance they deserve on bills. It won’t be cheap to deliver, but it’s essential.

Our new PM began her campaign in Peterborough and visited our city twice. She knows how important we are and she knows our potential. I was making our case again this week, having secured a Parliamentary debate on the Peterborough Station Quarter. Our levelling-up bid asks for £48 million to deliver new access and regeneration.

The Government has already delivered for new university. When it comes to economic growth, our university is the spark. As I told MPs, Peterborough Station can provide the rocket fuel.

The Minister of State for Transport was there to respond. It was Wendy Morton’s last act before becoming the Chief Whip.

Every MP likes to be on the right side of the Chief Whip. It was something of a relief to hear her “celebrate my hon. Friend’s work in campaigning for Peterborough” and add: “I know how hard he works, not only in relation to the levelling-up fund round 2 bid to develop the Peterborough station quarter, but for wider investment across his constituency. It is clear from his speech that he deeply understands the rich history and the present needs of the community in Peterborough.”

That was welcome for me, but there was also good news for us. She recognised that sustaining our progress was an “important matter” and that “in Peterborough, we are well on the way to levelling up the transport infrastructure”.

We will have to wait until a bit later this year for the outcome of round 2, but not for the “new vehicular bridge between Whittlesey and Peterborough, which opened in July after a £30 million investment”.

Likewise, the “£6.3 million investment in the A47/A15 junction 20 eased congestion at Peterborough Parkway and unlocked community infrastructure”. The moral is that “investment really has the power to change local lives, create jobs and create further investment”.