The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne dropped the biggest hint yet that the funding for the long awaited dualling of the A1 will finally be announced in his Autumn Statement on December 3rd.
George Osborne received a petition {attached} yesterday from the Campaign Director of the Dual the A1 campaign, Anne-Marie Trevelyan. He said; "before Anne-Marie launched the campaign, this issue had barely been mentioned in Westminster, during her years of campaigning on this and today, I have heard her voice loud and clear".
Asked about a formal announcement in the Autumn statement, he dropped a further hint, following the recent, mounting optimism, saying; "judge us by our actions".
Last week, at the Conservative Conference Anne-Marie Trevelyan had meetings with both the Chancellor and the Secretary State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin who said; "the feasibility report was commissioned as a direct result of Anne-Marie constantly lobbying me and my successors" and during his speech to conference he said; "Britain deserves a transport system that works. Investment into the A1 will sort out long term failures."
Meanwhile, a row is emerging involving the retiring MP for Berwick; Alan Beith, whom Anne-Marie Trevelyan is hoping to replace at the next general election, with Alan Beith being accused of trying to "take the credit" for the campaign, launched by Anne-Marie Trevelyan in 2007.
Northumberland County Councillor, Peter Jackson said; "after 41 years of inactivity, Alan Beith is, sadly, desperately scrambling around trying to capture something for his legacy, it seems to me that, yet again, the Liberal Democrats are trying to claim the credit for other people's hard-won results". The news has also been well received by local businesses; Alan Ferguson of Fergusons Transport said “Over many years now there has been a lot of campaigning to get the A1 north of Newcastle upgraded from its current almost country lane status to a road worthy of linking London & Edinburgh together. The latest efforts (and the most fervent) by the dual the A1 campaign may at last be getting a result. Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been noticeable by her persistence in this cause.”
Following her meeting with the Chancellor, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said; that she was "hugely encouraged" and "we are fortunate to have a Chancellor who understands the needs of the North and is personally committed to redress the infrastructure investment imbalance".
Anne-Marie Trevelyan also expressed appreciation for the support for her campaign from the local authority; "I am grateful for the commitment and backing from Labour Councillors on Northumberland County Council, who have been as good as their word, because for five years I could not get any support from the previous Liberal Democrat administration".