King’s Speech lacks ambition for rural areas, says Stuart Anderson MP
Stuart Anderson MP has responded to the King’s Speech, outlining the Government’s priorities for the next Parliament. He said that the Speech lacked ambition for rural areas like Shropshire, due to a disproportionate focus on city-regions rather than counties.
The King’s Speech set out more than 35 bills to deliver in Parliament. While the Government has invited local leaders to join ‘combined county authorities’, little has been outlined on how the Government will deliver more investment for rural areas that could benefit most from investment.
Ahead of the King’s Speech, Stuart had called on the government to ensure that people in rural areas like South Shropshire are not left behind by the big cities when it comes to infrastructure and investment. He called on the new government to stand by the previous government’s programme of capital investment in health services, as part of which £312 million was secured for the Hospital Transformation Programme in Shropshire. It also comes as concerns have been raised about whether the new government will honour the previous government’s plan to invest £36 billion on transport projects in the North and the Midlands, including Shropshire.
Stuart said that the new government must step up its action to support rural areas and farmers, harnessing the advantages of its strong economic inheritance - with the UK having been named as the fastest growing in the G7 so far this year, inflation back to normal levels, and unemployment at just 4 per cent.
Stuart pledged that securing fairer funding for rural areas like Shropshire and support for our farmers will remain a key priority of his. He added that the new government must use its strong economic inheritance in order to secure the nation’s defences and was disappointed to see no firm commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, as the former government had planned to do.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“While I welcome the decision in the King’s Speech to prioritise economic growth, it lacked ambition for rural areas like Shropshire – with little outlined on how the Government will address the extra challenges that we face. Rural areas must not be left behind by the big cities when it comes to investing in infrastructure, so I am calling on the new government to stand by the previous government’s programme of capital investment in health services, as part of which £312 million was secured Shropshire. The King’s Speech is a missed opportunity for the new government to be more ambitious for rural areas and commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, as the former government had planned to do. I am adamant that more attention must be paid to the needs of places outside city-regions like Shropshire and I will continue to campaign for fairer funding for our rural communities.”
