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Transport (North-West)

I totally agree; my hon. Friend is absolutely correct. We know that Manchester is the second city and that the north-west region is the powerhouse, but we cannot forget about the other side of the Pennines, as much as Lancastrians might wish to, because this is also about the north, and we need those east-west links. This is about having better access, whether by motorway or train. The high-speed link can bring the benefits of linking through to the south, as can a hub around Manchester that diverts across to Leeds. This is about linking the three cities of Liverpool, Preston and Manchester, and ensuring that we have other important links, but not forgetting the north as a whole. Whatever way we look at this issue, the north-south divide still exists, as my hon. Friend knows, and we have to stand up for the north and make sure that it gets the investment that it rightfully deserves. I know that the Minister will take that on board, because, as a missionary who went from the north to the south, he recognises that we in the north have to stand up for ourselves, because no one is going to do it for us. The high-speed link is important to our future, but we need to back it up by widening the M6, which is absolutely critical. It has four lanes around Preston, but then it suddenly goes down to three, and then goes up to four again at Warrington. There is a gap in the middle that should never have been allowed, because we need to keep the traffic flowing and the economy moving. Being in queued traffic is a great cost to business.