Bridget Phillipson MP: I will fight every day to make sure our area continues to get its fair share of investment

The Washington Loop Metro extension is just one of the major investments for the region announced recently.placeholder image
The Washington Loop Metro extension is just one of the major investments for the region announced recently.
Since being elected last July, I’ve worked tirelessly to deliver the change the people of Houghton and Sunderland South voted for.

From putting over 150 new neighbourhood police on our streets, to repairing Farringdon Primary Academy, opening two new, free breakfast clubs in local schools and expanding free school meals for up to 5,630 children in our community – I am proud of everything we have achieved so far.

The Labour government has made work pay with a boost to the National Minimum Wage to three million workers, injected record funding into our NHS, increased business confidence, stabilised the economy so it can grow, and hard-working families in our community aren’t crippled by sky-high mortgage payments.

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But I’m under no illusion that the task of rebuilding our country is huge. Years of mismanagement of the public finances and underinvestment in the infrastructure we all rely on has meant we’ve been let down.

For years, there have been too many broken promises, especially for local residents here in our community. We have been let down time and time again when it comes to investment in our public transport. The Conservatives tried to paper over their failure with empty slogans like ‘levelling up’. But they remained just that – slogans – with nothing delivered.

That ends with this Labour government because we understand what needs to be done. That’s why, together with our North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, we’ve recently announced a £1.85billion investment in our region’s transport network.

This will create a world-class integrated public transport system, including improved bus services, walking and cycling superhighways, hundreds of new EV charging points and repairs for our roads.

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For years, I have campaigned for the Metro to be extended, and thanks to this record investment, thanks to Labour in local, regional and national government – it is finally happening.

The Washington loop is set to be opened to link existing stations at Pelaw and South Hylton via Washington, and will be the first new Metro line for 30 years, connecting communities across our region.

Brick by brick, road by road, track by track, this Labour government will make our community better off.

I will fight every day to make sure our area continues to get its fair share of investment – not an empty slogan, not a broken promise, but a Plan for Change.

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