DAN Norris, the mayor of West England, has said that developing transport links is the best way of unlocking opportunities for people outside London.

He told GB News: “Transport is a key to giving people opportunity. If you can’t get to where you need to be, whether it’s your job or your dentist or whatever, you’re stuffed. So that’s the key thing.

“And it’s a huge challenge because transport isn’t where it needs to be at the moment. It’s frankly in a poor state. There’s been a big investment, but the pandemic has undermined a lot of that.

“So, it’s about rebuilding that confidence and trust so people know that if they wait for a bus, it’s going to turn up and they can plan their life on it.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Gloria De Piero, he said it was a misnomer to think that only areas outside the south-west were in need of levelling up’

“Everyone thinks about it geographically. That it means going up North, because the south-east of London is so prosperous compared to parts of northern England. But the reality is that that happens elsewhere in the UK.

“Now, as it happens, the West of England is quite a prosperous area when you look at averages, but I also have immense deprivation. So, for example, the life expectancy of women is one of the second lowest in the whole country in part of my area.

“There are young people, men working, young, working-class men I should say, for whom university entrance is incredibly low, for example. And yet, right around them is tremendous opportunity. So, what we need to do is drill down to those very specific details and …get it sorted, get it focused.

“We’ve got technology so we should be able to drill down wherever it is in the UK; North, South, East, or West, and we should be able to get to it.”

On his work when he was a Labour MP to protect children, he said: “I think you have to be honest about these things, because the truth is that communities get to know when there’s someone who’s not safe in their community sooner rather than later. So why not head it off by being absolutely candid and straight? Give people a right.

“The police have discretion about what information they can disclose in these situations, but for understandable reasons the police are often reluctant to say things because they know that there may be vigilante activity. So, it’s about getting that balance.

“But it’s all part of modern society, being able to talk about difficult subjects because I think that if you’re honest and straight about the challenges, then you create a safer environment for young people and children, and that’s surely the most important thing.”

Asked about his chairmanship of the League Against Cruel Sports, he said there was still more to be done despite the ban on foxhunting.

Mr Norris said: “I think we were naive. I think we didn’t anticipate some of the loopholes that were there. We trusted the hunting fraternity to adhere to the law and the spirit of the law. And I think it’s quite clear, looking back, that they never intended to do that.

“We’ve seen some very graphic and powerful imagery lately where foxes have been buried alive and dug out, and various other things, showing that the hunting fraternity are clearly carrying on hunting in the same old way, but they’re hiding it and concealing it.

“And it’s interesting, I was at a League against Cruel Sports meeting last week where the most senior police officer for the whole of England that enforces the hunting rules was basically saying that the hunting rules are useless, they need to be revisited, and I agree completely about that.”