My Personally Speaking column in The Sentinel (4 June 2026) We live in the best part of the kingdom – in the heart of this island home of ours. We are strategically located between two of the UK's biggest cities, sitting on the M6 corridor, with a local train station that links directly to the capital – North Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme should be firmly on the map. This is a place of brilliant people, local businesses and institutions, and immense, untapped promise

Today, I received confirmation from Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood MP, that safety improvements are being progressed at the A500 Audley Slip Road – a direct result of the pressure we’ve been applying locally and in Parliament. The Minister was responding to the letter I sent to the Secretary of State for Transport earlier this month, in which I urged the Government to step in and ensure action was finally taken to make this junction safe. In his reply, the Transport Mini