Tim Farron challenges Rachel Reeves to give the green light to A66 upgrade

On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, to approve plans to dual the A66 from Penrith to Scotch Corner.

The £1.6bn project was thrown into doubt last autumn after it was announced that it was being included in a spending review carried out by the Department for Transport.

In 2023 alone there we 12 fatalities on the stretch of road between Penrith and Scotch Corner.

Speaking during Treasury Questions in Parliament, Tim said: “Isn’t now absolutely the right time to start trying to make our own luck?

“And in that light, wouldn’t this also be the right time for the Chancellor to give the green light to the upgrade to the A66 between Penrith and Scotch Corner?

“This is an A road where 25% of all the traffic is freight, that’s twice the average for A roads across the country.

“It’s outrageous that so much is single carriageway.

“So wouldn't this be great for the economy as well as saving lives if she gave that a green light today?”

Responding, Rachel Reeves said: “So we'll be considering all of these schemes as part of the spending review.

“But I absolutely do agree with the honourable gentleman that we need to go further and faster to grow our economy.

“That is why we are spending £113bn more on capital investment in this Parliament, compared to the plans that we inherited, which means that we can upgrade more roads, more rail lines, more energy infrastructure and build the 1.5 million homes our  country needs too.”