Rural counties like ours face much higher costs than urban areas – which are seldom reflected in Whitehall funding formula.

The extra costs of transport and heating hit public services disproportionately hard. As do the growing needs of an ageing demographic.

That’s why I’ve long made the case for a fairer Whitehall funding formula.

With the Ukraine energy inflation, post-pandemic labour shortages and cost of living crisis, we are now facing a perfect storm.

We can’t go on without a fairer funding settlement.

That’s why I wrote, with 40 other MPs and the County All Party Parliamentary Group, to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to insist on fairer funding for rural areas.

See the letter below.