Local Priorities

Community groups and activities are the beating heart of our society, bringing the best of us together. But to create spaces fit for celebrating our communities, we need to take back control from London and have more local decision-making on public transport, housing, energy, skills, culture, and childcare.

I’ve been tough on dodgy developers who try to build housing without any care for the impact on the local area, and challenged new developments in flood risk zones.

I continue to challenge our train companies on the poor service they have provided, despite continually rising fares, and I have successfully lobbied our bus companies to restore the Sunday bus service to Knott End, increase services along St George’s Quay in Lancaster, and introduce fairer bus fares for Scorton and Forton.

I’ve championed our local skate parks, youth services, green spaces and campaigned to save community assets like pharmacies, whilst challenging local government when their services are poor or work against residents, such as the poor state of weeding or City Council parking charge increases. 

From GPs, hospitals, dentists, and pharmacies to campaigns saving breast cancer screening services and local leisure centre facilities, I’m proud to fight to keep local healthcare and community health services open and available for everyone.

I have continually campaigned for investment in our crumbling hospitals and A&E services. When a proposal was put on the table to merge the Royal Lancaster Infirmary with the Royal Preston Hospital to create a “superhospital” off the M6 near Preston, I successfully fought hard to keep hospital services in Lancaster.

I was delighted that this resulted in the “superhospital” plan being ruled out, and a new state-of-the-art hospital in Lancaster being proposed instead. I am now campaigning for the government to give us the funds for this that were promised.

Through their local and sustainable produce and services, I want to boost our small businesses champions and make sure their aspiration is rewarded. It takes guts and a huge leap of faith to go into business, and so I’m committed to giving them the best chance to thrive through cuts to business rates, making sure invoices get paid on time, and pushing to make Britain the high-growth, start-up hub of the world.

From soaring energy bills, to changing retail habits, I am keenly aware of the need to support our high streets. I have supported hundreds of businesses with individual issues and I will keep advocating for buying local through my #LancashireLovesLocal campaign.

I want the UK to be a leader in tackling the climate crisis and protecting the environment for future generations. I’ve stood up against fracking, poor flood defences, and the slow progress on reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

I have strongly opposed all plans to introduce fracking since I was elected in 2015. I celebrated with people across Lancashire when we secured a Government moratorium in 2019, but I was not complacent, and when Liz Truss brought the idea back in 2022 I brought my resistance back to Parliament. I will keep fighting for a ban on fracking, and for investment in the green jobs of the future instead.

Building on a Labour-led Lancaster City Council declaration of a Climate Emergency in January 2019, I will continue to fight in Parliament to make Britain a clean power by 2030 by harnessing the power of marine and tidal energy, quadrupling offshore wind, doubling onshore wind, and tripling solar power, whilst safeguarding nature and our children’s future with a Clean Air Act, and cracking down on water companies who dump sewage into our rivers and seas.