Penrith and the Borders was on Radio 4

Yesterday we went to Maryport, West Cumbria. The drives passes through Rory Stewart's Penrith & Borders constituency. This morning's R4 spot before 0821 (to trace it) it was the constituency being profiled. All that can honestly be said is that not one interviewee felt their views made a blind bit of difference. The CLA rep struggling to get mobile signal, the redundant shop worker who lost their job when the bus went. Rural buses, broadband, just the same issues as in the Hexham neighbour. Guy Opperman has certainly worked on both those issues but another round of local bus cuts is immediately imminent. I largely blame having a council based in Ashington for that, but any campaign for a West Northumberland unitary does not have traction in the current election. The overwhelming feeling I guess for many people across this whole vast spread of land is year after year of muddling through with less central support. Meanwhile events north of the Border are unsettling to say the least and for a historian the feeling of Deja Vu (think 410, think16th century) is hard to shrug off.