Jack Straw was elected MP for Blackburn in 1979 and served until 2015. During that time he was heavily involved in the building of the M65 and its subsequent extension many years later through to Preston. Here he looks at what he would like to see for the road's future, and other transport links in East Lancashire...

No M65 between the M6 and Whitebirk? It’s unthinkable today – but that is precisely what East Lancashire had to put up with for years. Traffic poured onto Blackburn’s arterial road, and to the single carriageway of the Preston New Road. It was terrible for residents, commuters, and businesses.

This was because the crucial missing link was abruptly cancelled in 1980. It took a relentless 10 year campaign to get it back in the programme, and another seven years before it finally opened.

Part of the later delay arose from the usual planning problems. But part from environmental protesters, who argued that the route would divide a much loved wood – and who claimed that the money would be better spent on improving north east Lancashire’s rail services.

I’d been campaigning myself for years for rail improvements, but there were two key points in reply to these protesters.

The first was that we simply had to be connected to the country’s main motorway network. It was essential for the region’s economy.

But second - and this might seem counter-suggestive –that even with this key link of the M65 in place, the case for a transformation of our rail services was overwhelming. This was not an ‘either/or’.

So it has proved. When I first got to know Blackburn in the mid 1970’s there was simply one train an hour from Colne to Preston, and one to Manchester. In the intervening period there has been major changes. The lines to Clitheroe, to Leeds, and to Rochdale have all been reopened. Frequency to Manchester has been doubled. The trains are really busy.

There is a good case for extending the M65 to Skipton. The M65 must be the only motorway in the country which effectively ends in a car park. However, though it is on a list, it would be a very costly project. So for this end of the valley I’d start with reopening the Colne-Skipton rail link – much cheaper, because the trackbed is still mainly intact. I’d also argue for modest improvements to the line from Burnley through Todmorden to Leeds. The rail journey take 1hour 45 from Blackburn at present – for a relatively small investment, journey times could be cut significantly. Let’s get these in the bag, and then see how the case for the M65 extension stacks up.