Top team including government figures formed to fight for Barrow

It comes after the most senior civil servant in the country and an elite team of government advisors visited Barrow.

Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, and his team visited the area to meet with bosses at BAE and Westmorland and Furness Council.

Simon Case (Image: Government)

'Team Barrow' will be formed of leaders from BAE, the council, Whitehall and MP Simon Fell.

According to Mr Fell, the team is working on supporting the area including by 'changing the perception of Furness', investing in the NHS and developing and delivering a programme of work.

The MP said: "It was a really good visit. 

"It was music to my ears to hear the Cabinet Secretary say: 'we don’t have a choice. We have to deliver across the board'.

"He also began his remarks with an incredible statement of intent, stating that he was 'imagining a child at St George’s in Barrow... that child will become the successor to the current MD at BAE, delivering the successor to Dreadnought... we need to ensure that that child has the best education, the best healthcare'.  

"With the Government fully committed to the Dreadnought and AUKUS programmes this wasn’t a question of can we support Furness, but rather, how they support. Having spent months knocking on doors in Westminster, raising this with the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Levelling Up Secretary and others, this was music to my ears.

"Just on numbers alone, delivery of these two programmes will mean thousands of new families living in our community. That places a real need not to just build new homes of all types, but also to upgrade our infrastructure, including roads, rail, and to ensure that we have the public services we need for all these new people too.

"I look forward to working as part of Team Barrow to make that vision a reality."

The visit followed a speech by Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, who said he wanted Barrow to become a 'new powerhouse for the North'.