As a proud Lancastrian I am looking forward to celebrating all things Lancashire this Sunday on Lancashire Day. For those who don’t know, this historic County day falls on the 27th November when, 727 years ago (in 1295), the then King Edward I, called the first representative from Lancashire to Westminster to attend what became ‘The Model Parliament’.
And today, with over 1.4 million people living in our red rose county, we’ve so much to be proud of. We powered the industrial revolution, led the world in establishing football as a major game, invented the jet engine, have beautiful countryside all around us, and some of the friendliest people in the whole of the UK.
Throughout this week we have been able to celebrate all that is great about our county, and the wider North West region. The highlight was an event hosted on Wednesday by the Speaker of the House of Commons in the splendour that is the Speaker’s House. Bringing together MPs, council leaders, charities and businesses from across Lancashire, it was a way to highlight and celebrate our unique heritage and the future of where we go next.
Burnley was well represented at this too, with Burnley FC, Safran Nacelles, and Process Instruments all in attendance, alongside Burnley Borough Council and UCLan.
This week also saw the Team Tempest partners come to Parliament to showcase what they are doing. Tempest is one of the most exciting programmes in development and will safeguard our local defence aerospace prowess for decades to come, with tens of thousands of jobs created and sustained. And for those who have not yet heard of it, it is the sixth-generation combat aircraft being developed for the Royal Air Force and partners around the world.
Bringing together companies like BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and MBDA, it is centred firmly in Lancashire. Making sure this remains firmly at the top of the Government agenda is a key priority for me, and so it was great to meet the team and connect them to some of our local SMEs.
These companies are providing the high-wage, high-skill, high-quality jobs we all want to see in our county. And they are supported by our brilliant education providers like UCLan and Burnley College. Lancashire’s best days remain firmly in front of us and that’s what this week was all about celebrating.
On a final note it was also brilliant to watch England get such a decisive win in their first game of the World Cup! Bring on the USA.
