Last night, local MP Tim Farron met with Treasury minister Helen Whately to make the case for a passing loop on the Lakes Line from Oxenholme to Windermere.

Cumbria County Council are currently developing a feasibility study into a passing loop which would double the amount of trains that run into the Lake District.

On the floor of the House of Commons yesterday, local MP Tim Farron challenged ministers to get a grip on the workforce crisis that is proving a major threat to businesses in Cumbria.Speaking during Treasury Oral Questions in Parliament, Tim said: "I hope that the minister is aware that one of the problems facing small and medium sized employers in Cumbria and elsewhere certainly in rural Britain is a serious lack of workforce.

This morning, local MP Tim Farron has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, asking them to urgently address gaps in the Government's energy rebate scheme.

Currently, people who live in either a static home or caravan park are not entitled to receive the Government's £400 energy rebate, with the money instead going to the owner of the park whose name is on the bill.In the letter to Mr Sunak and Mr Kwarteng, Tim said: "It seems the Government is happy to accept that some of the most vulnerable in society and those on fixed incomes will miss out on the rebate, knowing this will impact people living on mobile homes or caravans on a permanent basis at protected sites.

On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, South Lakes MP Tim Farron pleaded with the Foreign Office Minister to restore cuts made to the international aid budget.

It comes as some of the world's poorest countries have been hit by Russia blocking grain exports from Ukraine.

Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world's wheat and barley.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has become a member of the cross-party committee tasked with scrutinising the Government's Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

The committee will go through every line of the Bill and Tim will have the chance to put forward amendments to improve it.

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Committee held its first meeting in Parliament this morning where they took oral evidence from: