Keir Starmer not only had to face Ed Davey today, but two other Liberal Democrats, Helen Morgan and Wendy Chamberlain.

Helen asked him about much needed work on the A483 in her North Shropshire constituency:

The Llynclys Crossroads on the A483 is the worst accident blackspot in the Midlands.

We’ve been calling for action for years, and National Highways agree.

I asked the Prime Minister to fix Treasury funding formulas which prioritise high speeds over the lives of rural residents. pic.twitter.com/q2O8WXlade

— Helen Morgan MP 🔶 (@HelenMorganMP) October 9, 2024

Here’s the exchange in full:

The A483 runs through my constituency from Llanymynech to Oswestry. It is one of the busiest and most dangerous roads in the constituency, and National Highways says the crossroads at Llynclys is the worst accident blackspot in the midlands. It has a proposal to improve the situation, but Treasury rules place a higher value on road speed than on the lives of North Shropshire’s residents. Will the Prime Minister look at flexing those rules to back National Highways and my residents, to give them the safe road they deserve? (900579)

The Prime Minister

I thank the hon. Member for raising this. It is obviously a big and important issue in her constituency. It is vital that as we invest we improve safety and deliver better journeys for drivers. National Highways continues to study the case for safety improvements to the A483 and will continue to do so. As she probably knows, decisions will be set out under the third road investment strategy. I know that the Roads Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), will have heard her representations and will agree to a meeting, if that is what she would like.

Today is PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day. PANS stands for Paediatric Acute-onset Neuro-psychiatric Syndrome and PANDAs stands for Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. Wendy has been interested in this since the parents of a constituent told her of the trauma they had suffered with their own child. Last year Wendy led a debate on the issue which you can read here.

At that time she said:

We do not need to be parents ourselves, although many of us here may be, to understand how utterly distressing it must be to have a formerly healthy, happy child suddenly find themselves unable to leave their bedroom, dress, eat, wash, talk to others or attend school and to see them vanish as the illness takes over. Sadly, that distress is compounded and worsened many times over by the lack of available support for patients and their families, as PANS is often not even suggested, considered or acknowledged.

Wendy took the opportunity of PANS/PANDAS Awareness day to ask for a meeting with the Department for Health on getting more funding for investigations and research. She said:

Today is PANS PANDAS Awareness Day, which is about a paediatric condition affecting potentially thousands of children across the UK. I first raised the condition in the Chamber 18 months ago, when I heard about its devastating impact from a constituent. Does the Prime Minister agree that it should not be for a charity to fund the pathway analysis and research needed to ensure that people and children get the support they need? Will he help facilitate a meeting for me with the charity and the Department of Health and Social Care?

The Prime Minister responded positively:

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this important issue and reminding the House of the impact that it has. I can certainly arrange that meeting so that we can take it further forward.

Watch the exchange here.

PANS and PANDAS are extremely serious but little understood paediatric conditions which can impact any child. On this 15th annual awareness day, I’m pleased to have raised this with the Prime Minister and secured his promise of a meeting for @PANSPANDASUK with the Health Dept. pic.twitter.com/5wk1qHYFQ4

— Wendy Chamberlain (@wendychambLD) October 9, 2024

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings