Brexit secretary in Barrow to back Conservative election candidate

David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the European Union, joined Simon Fell, the Conservative general election candidate for Barrow and Furness, out canvasing in Hawcoat, Barrow.

Mr Davis and Mr Fell said they received a good response on the Barrow doorsteps, with Trident and Brexit being two of the big issues for those they spoke to.

The Tory Yorkshire MP said defence is one of the top things in the battle order for the Conservative government having a "complete commitment to Trident and Trident renewal, unlike the Labour Party which has dithered all over the place."

Mr Davis also said: "Here in Cumbria if we get a decent number of Tory MPs, we will be able to devise a Cumbrian industrial strategy for jobs for youngsters of the future, so you are not always waiting on the next submarine order or whatever it might be."

Many have said prime minister Theresa May's calling of a snap general election on June 8 is for the benefit of the Tories and not the public. But Mr Davis says it is in the "national interest" to go to the polls now to ensure delivery of a good deal for "a good future" through the Brexit negotiations.

Mr Davis said: "This will give us more time, it will give us more mandate. People have said 'we accept the result, but we don't accept the way you are doing it'. We are saying 'this is how we are going to do it; we have the mandate to leave and what we want is the mandate as to how we leave.

"What we want is a good negotiation, that is good for the country and that is what this will do. Every vote for a Conservative candidate strengthens Theresa May's hand, it allows her to exercise her leadership and negotiating skills in the interest of the whole country."

Mr Davis said the UK want the sort of deal that keeps European markets available and opens up markets in the rest of the world, a big free trade deal with Europe.

He said: "It helps you keep the European market but frees us up to actually make deals with the rest of the world - the Canadians, the Americans, the Indians - and that will help BAE in a big way and help others, you also have GSK and Siemens.

"This whole strategy is designed to help the whole country, but somewhere like Barrow, which has been heavily dependent on defence, which even with a very good defence strategy, there are ups and downs. You need the rest of the industrial strategy as well, and that is what you are going to get, and what Simon is well qualified to deliver."

Simon Fell is a director of a not-for-profit organisation which works to prevent fraud and other financial crime.

The Brexit secretary said: "Simon runs his own not-for-profit company which actually helping vulnerable people. One of my big things in politics has been trying to help vulnerable people, people who are less well off, trying to give people chances - that is what Simon does all the time."

Mr Fell said he is talking with Copeland and Carlisle's Conservative MPs, Trudy Harrison and John Stevenson, asking "how can we use this tremendous investment that is coming into Cumbria for the good of the people.

The candidate said: "One of the big misses for Cumbria is we don't speak the common voice. We have the Northern Powerhouse, which is a really good idea, but Cumbria is barely mentioned in it.

"In Trudy's patch we have Moorside, here BAE, Siemens, GSK, a wealth of highly skilled employers in this area, but our rail network is falling apart, the A595 and the A590 are really important. What we need is MPs working together so we have that common voice, so actually Cumbria is on the map and listened to by the government."

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock is standing in the general election as a Labour and Co-operative candidate for the constituency, but Mr Woodcock has said he would never endorse Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister.