David Warburton, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Somerton & Frome, has welcomed announcements by the Chancellor George Osborne in the South West yesterday where he launched his Plan for Working People in the South West.
Among the Chancellor’s announcements were plans for the Conservative government to renew the £20m New Stations Fund, inviting bids to fund new railway stations. The Chancellor proposed including a new stop along the Castle Cary to Taunton line.
The Chancellor yesterday also pledged a £10m Broadband Fund to deliver fibre optic connections to South West premises without superfast broadband.
George Osborne said: “Our Plan for the working people of the South West is clear, specific and ambitious. It is a long term economic plan with a timetable for delivery, each year bringing new investment and new jobs. It is a plan from a Conservative Party that can point to a track record of success – and a plan from the only party offering the South West a real vision for the future”.
David Warburton commented: “I’ve been lobbying the Chancellor and the Department of Transport for two years to secure funding for improved transport links in Somerset, and I’m delighted that George Osborne has today announced the renewal of the New Stations Fund, along with an extra £10m for the roll-out of fibre optic broadband in the region. Extending rail links in the area would enable a huge boost to our local economy, and the benefits – together with the equally vital roll-out of fibre optic broadband - would be life-changing to thousands of Somerset residents and businesses.
David continued: “The Conservatives have committed to funding and delivering these key projects for Somerset, so the choice for Somerton & Frome could not be clearer at this crucial election. It is between David Cameron’s strong and stable team who have a plan to turn the country around and improve life in Somerset or Ed Miliband, propped up by the SNP, who would wreck the economy and put at risk crucial investment in transport infrastructure.”
Overall, the Chancellor pledged that the Conservatives would:
• Grow the South West economy and create 150,000 extra new jobs in the South West.
• Boost family incomes for 2.5 million people in the South West by cutting people’s income tax.
• Create 300,000 apprenticeships, 60,000 new good primary school places, and offer working families 30 hours of free childcare a week.
• Support home ownership with Help to Buy, and extend the Right to Buy their own home to all 220,000 housing association tenants in the South West.
• Make a record £7.2 billion transport investment in the South West, including dualling the A358, investing £2 billion in the A303 and electrifying the Great Western Main Line.
• Build a strong South West economy which will to enable us to increase funding to the South West NHS each and every year.
George Osborne warned that an Ed Miliband / Scottish Nationalist government would mean jobs lost in the South West, incomes cut in the South West, and insecurity rising in the South West.
He said it would lead to the cancellation of vital infrastructure projects here. Labour have already cancelled the planned upgrade to the A358 – and other projects including the A303 upgrade and the South West rail investment would be at risk.