The Chancellor, George Osborne, visited Alnwick today, to support Anne-Marie Trevelyan's campaign to become the next MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed and urged voters to vote Conservative for a bright future for the region. George Osborne met with Anne-Marie Trevelyan and local business leaders in Baileys Cafe before embarking on the rest of his election tour.
George Osborne, urged voters to not put the economic recovery at risk by electing a government headed by Ed Miliband and propped up by the Scottish nationalists. "Our message is very clear and I think it is a message that is getting through; if you want a strong economy and you want David Cameron at the head of a strong, stable government then you need to vote for him, you need to vote Conservative. I think as people focus on that message with just a couple of days to go, they will see they want to vote for a bright future for the North East and Northumberland".
Asked about the NHS, which was back in the headlines today, George Osborne said; "Here in this part of Northumberland, the local trust has done a great job in running its finances. I make this bigger point though - we are absolutely committed to the National Health Service, but unless you have a strong economy, you cannot have a strong NHS so we need an economic plan that is going to grow the economy, create jobs, create wealth in our nation and provide rising living standards for people - all of that is put at risk if we have a weak Government".
George Osborne also spoke about his aspirations to create a "Northern Powerhouse"; "What is very exciting at the moment is that for the first time in living memory, the north is growing faster than the south, we have had enormous success in growing businesses and creating jobs in the North East - the business owners I have met here in Alnwick - feel they can expand, grow, take people on and create jobs. Let us continue that, let us now abandon that".
George Osborne, again rubbished scaremongering claims made by the Liberal Democrats that the Conservatives planned to introduce regional pay and tolls on the A1 saying; "I can give a 100% guarantee that is absolutely not going to happen" .