Joe Morris

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I will briefly touch on the market towns in my constituency, including Hexham itself, which has Hexham abbey, England’s first purpose-built jail, the Victorian Queen’s Hall—which, to declare an interest, now has my office in it—as well as a local arts centre and dancehall. Market towns define Northumberland. Hon. Members have touched eloquently on many of the challenges facing them, but one of the main challenges is a lack of transport, especially accessible transport, sometimes caused by potholes in some of our more rural roads. That isolates people who are trying to get from places such as Allendale or Otterburn into Hexham, which is a central point for much of Northumberland’s rural economy, as it has a large farmers mart. Hexham is also ill-served by frequently delayed and cancelled rail and bus services that, to be honest, are not entirely fit for purpose. The Conservative-run Northumberland county council sometimes forgets that the west of Northumberland exists. It is fair to say that my constituents are frequently angered when investment is shifted away from them in the west of the county, because that simply fails to address the problems. I am frequently confronted by potholes on my roads that we are told have been fixed but then open up again a week later. Those bread and butter concerns hold back market towns from their true potential. I will briefly touch on the creative industry and its contribution to market towns. That is one of the few industries in the local economy that does not always rely on getting a delayed bus or a delayed train, or not hitting a pothole. It includes the poets, writers and artists who contribute so much to the character of each of our towns. They frequently contact me with concerns about AI and the potential damage that it could do to the rural economy, so I would like the Minister to acknowledge that in her response.