IF WE HAVE WELSH AND SCOTTISH QUESTIONS IN PARLIAMENT, WHY NOT WEST

4.03.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 7th Apr 2008

A Somerset MP has called for time to be set aside in the parliamentary timetable for questions about the west-country. And he's suggested a good place to start would be the "most-neglected trunk road in Britain" the A303 and the "worst rail service" provided by First Great Western.

David Heath, MP for Somerton & Frome, called on the Leader of the House Harriet Harman to find ways to let MPs representing the south west to have their say. Mr Heath pointed out that, despite having devolved Parliament and Assembly, the House of Commons still has regular sessions for Welsh and Scottish questions. He asked why the south west, with a population just as big, doesn't have a similar opportunity.

He said:

"There is a serious point about the opportunities we have to raise matters which affect our region as a whole. For instance, as we start the holiday period hundreds and thousands of visitors will come into the West Country using some of the worst infrastructure in any region. I have been calling for investment in the A303, the most neglected trunk road in Britain, for many years, and yet we're still waiting, and the rail services to the south west are a disgrace.

We need to find ways of applying the same pressure that those representing Scotland and Wales are able to muster to make sure the West Country gets a fair deal. At the moment that is transparently not the case."