MP urges Health Secretary to invest in Cumbria’s public health budget to cope with coronavirus

On the floor of the House of Commons this morning, local MP Tim Farron pushed the Government to invest in Cumbria's public health budget in the wake of coronavirus.

Speaking during Health Questions, Tim said: "All the evidence suggests that coronavirus is of the greatest risk to those who are older in our population.

"My constituency has an average age 10 years above the national average and yet when it comes to public health allocations Cumbria only gets £36 per head as opposed to £63 per head as a national average, £100 per head for public health in many parts of London.

"Does the Secretary of State agree with me that is a dangerous inequality and will he fix that in the upcoming statement?"

In his response, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was interested in "inequalities in health outcomes" and he would be taking this into account ahead of the spending review.

Speaking afterwards, Tim said: "The minister's reply was incredibly vague and unhelpful.

"At this moment in time, we need to see more money for public health in Cumbria not less - and I await to see whether the Government will take the action needed to address this serious inequality in the budget tomorrow."