WATCH Boris Johnson confuses Poulton with Bolton in parliament

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has stumbled over his words in parliament this week when he confused a Lancashire town for Bolton - which is 50 miles away.

Lancashire MP, Cat Smith, arrived in parliament (November 3) to ask Boris about rail travel and his promise to bring a railway to Fleetwood.

In parliament she said: “Two years ago the Prime Minister visited Poulton and announced it was his commitment to reopen the railway line to Fleetwood.

“So can he tell my Fleetwood constituents what progress he’s making with that and when they can expect to catch the train from Fleetwood into the entire national rail network.

Boris Johnson replied: “What we’re doing is a general program of Beeching reversals around the country."

“I will get back to her as soon as I can about what is happening in Bolton â€" but this is the biggest investment in rail for a century or more.”

 

Two years ago the Prime Minister visited Poulton and promised Fleetwood a railway. I’ve kept pushing for this to be more than just words. Today I asked (again) for an update.

Unfortunately Boris Johnson muddled us up with a town almost 50 miles away called Bolton 🤦‍♀️ #fleetwood pic.twitter.com/zkIfbA9aUO

â€" Cat Smith MP (@CatSmithMP) November 3, 2021

“I have been campaigning for a new rail link since I became an MP in 2015,” said Ms Smith to The Bolton News.

“Now I wonder if our funding for this has been going to Bolton instead of Poulton? Or did the Prime Minister mean to call in at Bolton instead of Poulton two years ago?

"Does he even know where Poulton is? Or does it not matter as we’re all just ‘oop’ north somewhere?

"As you can imagine, I’ll be raising this matter with Number 10 to ensure in future that the Prime Minister doesn’t get lost somewhere between Lancashire and Greater Manchester. In the meantime I’ll be sending him a map of the country.”

Many people took to Twitter to highlight the blunder.

“They really can't keep up with our northern towns can they,” one person wrote.

Another remarked that people from Bolton and Poulton-le-Fylde will be wincing.

“You'd think he'd have heard of Poulton Wanderers [Football Club]” joked another

It’s not the first time a member of the Tory party has confused the names of northern towns.

During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confused Bury with Burnley despite the two towns being located 20 miles apart.

Sunak was answering a question about the Government’s so-called levelling-up agenda when he referred to Bury Market as the “world-famous Burnley market”.

Labour North West were also unimpressed, with a spokesperson adding: “This is becoming a pattern, the Tory cabinet need some geography lessons quickly.”

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