A1 dualling needed, concedes Minister

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 29th Sep 2009

Sir Alan Beith MP and Fiona Hall MEP are campaigning for the completion of the A1 dualling schemes.

The Government's Minister for the North East, Nick Brown, has agreed with Berwick's Liberal Democrat MP Sir Alan Beith that dualling more parts of the A1 is very important to the region. He was answering a question from Sir Alan at the first meeting of the Regional Grand Committee of the House of Commons in Middlesbrough.

Sir Alan said

"In the north east it is clear that the Liberal Democrats are the only opposition to Labour and I welcome the opportunity to challenge the Minister over the complacency that Labour has demonstrated towards our region.

"I am glad the Minister agreed with me that there needs to be a clear plan for step-by-step completion of work to dual the A1, starting with the most dangerous sections such as the Mousen Bends near Belford."

"The Minister quoted the Conservatives' deplorable failure to carry out the promise they made to dual the A1, but Labour have had 12 years to put right that failure and have not done so."

Sir Alan identified transport, education and access to fast broadband as key elements in enabling areas like north and mid Northumberland to tackle the recession. He also criticised Ministers for failing to move more jobs out of London to the north east, particularly at a time when local tax offices were closing with a loss of jobs from market towns like Alnwick and Morpeth.

Sir Alan was the only Northumberland MP to take part in the debate. Less than half the region's Labour MPs attended and the Conservatives were not represented.

Sir Alan went on to highlight the need for a high speed rail system for the UK which includes the north east from the beginning, as well as upgrades to the East Coast Main Line which could increase both passenger and freight capacity.