FOLLOWING a fantastic summer of meetings with Copeland’s leading industries, it is my pleasure to welcome the minister for the Northern Powerhouse and local growth, Jake Berry, to west Cumbria this week to highlight the area’s nuclear excellence, diverse businesses and opportunities for growth.

As an advocate of the Northern Powerhouse, I felt it was necessary to secure the minister’s visit to demonstrate the potential our area has to offer. It is important that Copeland is not overlooked in relation to investment and inclusion within the Northern Powerhouse and I look forward to welcoming the minister to Cumbria – it is a key opportunity for the industry to demonstrate its relevance in the government’s efforts to establish a Northern Powerhouse.

It was great to be involved in this year’s NDA Stakeholder Summit and offer my views on the importance of nuclear in our communities, as well as emphasising the need for policy and timescales to be joined up to enable our fantastic supply chain to plan ahead. I am pleased that the government will be updating on the Small Modular Reactor competition in the autumn, as this offers a wealth of manufacturing opportunities – Copeland, as the centre of nuclear excellence is well placed to lead the way.

As we move into the autumn, I'm looking forward to visiting our food and drink businesses and will be holding pub talks around the constituency to meet with many of you. Please do let me know if you would like me to visit a pub near you! It's also a good opportunity to meet with farmers who can hopefully spend a little more time indoors. I was proud to get behind the Back British Farmers campaign in Parliament earlier this month – the UK food and farming industry is worth £109bn, representing more than 3.8 million jobs, making it a fundamental contribution to our economy. Through simple actions like buying British produce, enjoying the countryside responsibly, and spreading the word with friends and family, we can all help to support our farming industry.

In Parliament, I have voted to approve the second reading of the Repeal Bill, which will guarantee that the UK can set its own laws after leaving the EU. I am pleased that real progress is being made to ensure that Brexit will be a legislative success for both Copeland’s businesses and consumers.

I have also been elected to the Education Select Committee. Having been involved in education much of my career, serving as a school governor, managing a nursery and working as part of the team that saved Captain Shaw’s C of E School from closure, this is an exciting opportunity to help improve and enhance educational services in the constituency and I look forward to the challenges ahead.

Also this month, the digital minister, Matt Hancock, announced that up to £645m is to be made available to help take superfast broadband to the most remote and hard to reach places in the UK. This announcement is encouraging news for a rural constituency like Copeland and I look forward to this becoming a reality for my constituents.