MP slams Hammond over ignoring Cumbria in Northern Powerhouse pledge

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has hit out over Philip Hammond's decision to ignore Cumbria in his new spending plans for the North.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference, Philip Hammond pledged to invest £400m in the region's transport infrastructure (with most of the money being spent on HS2), but failed to guarantee any of that money would go to Cumbria.

Tim said: "The Chancellor's decision to ignore Cumbria shows this Government's utter distain for our county.

"While the government pledge to spend hundreds of millions on transport across the rest of the country, commuters in the South Lakes are left having to deal with huge delays on the Windermere Line and mass cancellations on the Furness Line because of serious underinvestment.

"This all comes just weeks after the government announced they were shelving plans to electrify the Lakes Line, which would have cost a pittance compared to HS2, and shows that once again they continue to do all they can to show that they don't care about us."