Rishi Sunak

I am big fan of the Men’s Shed movement. That’s the network of community workshops we now have in the UK where men can connect, socialise and create.

I recently had the privilege of seeing inside a wonderful new facility for our area – its first inpatient hospice.

After almost two years of answering questions in the House every Wednesday lunchtime as Prime Minister, I now find myself asking them.

AT the General Election earlier this month, many of you will have noticed that something was different – the name of the parliamentary area.

It is almost five years exactly since one of the biggest public meetings ever held in Northallerton took place in the old Grammar School.

I share the concerns many people have about the impact of the closure of bank branches, particularly in rural areas such as ours.

LIKE many of you, I’ve enjoyed taking our first tentative steps back to normality in the last couple of weeks.

PREPARATIONS for this week’s Budget – my second – were very different to a year ago. Last February I had been appointed to the role of Chancellor with just 26 days before the big event and the enormity of the challenge posed to the country by the Covid-19 pandemic was just becoming apparent. This time I had more time to prepare but the size of the challenge the country’s economy faces is, if anything, even bigger.

RIGHT from the start of the pandemic I was acutely aware that our young people faced some of the greatest difficulties because of the economic crisis.

SINCE the start of coronavirus vaccinations in North Yorkshire I have remained in contact with the local teams responsible for what is the biggest programme of its type in the history of the NHS.