A CUMBRIAN MP has welcomed the new Chancellor's U-turn on the previous Chancellor’s ‘mini budget’ - and said that the A66 project will be boosted by the move.

Jeremy Hunt's new plan has apparently been put in place to ‘stabilise’ the economy and involves a reversal of planned tax cuts.

PM Liz Truss spoke at a Downing Street press conference, hinting at austerity to come, and said: “Our public sector will become more efficient, to deliver world-class services for the British people, and spending will grow less rapidly than previously planned.”

There are thoughts that with high inflation affecting Whitehall budgets, spending may have to go down more in order for more spending to be possible in the future.

Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and the Border, said: “The Government has shown it is listening to me, and my Conservative colleagues, regarding the economy and so I thank the new Chancellor and hope he will again listen by making sure any review of the landmark energy support will take into account people who are struggling against unprecedented price rises.

“I am very clear I do not wish to see cuts in public sector funding moving forward and I will continue to make representations to Government on that point in no uncertain terms.

“It is also positive that the Government is committed to accelerating infrastructure projects such as the Gigabit rollout and the A66 upgrade, both of which are crucial to people and businesses up here in Cumbria.” 

On the A66 upgrade, which is set to go ahead despite looming economic turmoil putting its scheduled plan into question by some, Suzanne Caldwell, managing director of the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “While we recognise there’s a need to find savings these should not be at the expense of rural areas such as Cumbria, which are too often at the back of the queue behind more populous areas.

“These projects aren’t our only concern as we hear whispers about potential scaling pack of the recently announced Investment Zones and potential cuts to funding streams such as the Shared Prosperity Fund.”

On the importance it will hold for tourism, a spokesperson from Cumbria Tourism said: “Northern Cumbria in particular benefits from significant tourism business from the Northeast of England for whom this route is vitally important.

“As well as the general improvement in journey times and connectivity, the fulfilment of this project will enable Cumbria Tourism to more successfully pursue our strategic objective of ‘attract and disperse’ to enable more areas in Cumbria to benefit from northeastern markets due to journey time.”

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