I have signed two Motions in the House of Commons about Richard III.

The first congratulates the excellent work carried out by the University of Leicester in establishing beyond reasonable doubt that the remains buried in a car park in Leicester were those of Richard III.

The other motion calls for his re-burial in York Minister in accordance with his wishes.

Richard III was the last monarch of the House of York and grew up at Middleham Castle in the Yorkshire Dales. He funded the fourth floor of Monk Bar, one of the medieval gateways to York, which now houses a small museum about him.

In 1484, he started work on creating a college of 100 priests within York Minster, which was to have been a chantry dedicated to Our Lady, St George and St Ninian, to pray for the souls of him and members of his family. Richard III’s reputation was trashed by that pesky playwright from Stratford, but Shakespeare needed to curry favour with the Tudor royal court and it would not have been in his interests to show Richard in a good light. That’s politics. But Richard is still well regarded by people in York and it is not surprising that 22,000 people have signed a petition calling for York Minster to be his final resting place.

• Funding for development of York Central In July last year the Government announced a scheme to provide funding for major infrastructure projects which have stalled because of the current economic climate.

City of York Council applied for £107 million to develop several key sites including York Central, the council’s flagship site for economic development next to the railway station, which would provide opportunities for sustainable housing, business and retail space. High Speed 2 strengthens the case for York Central. In the House of Commons last year I told the Secretary of State for Transport that York Central could provide land to build additional platforms to enable High Speed 2 trains to connect with the East Coast Main Line, and now the Department for Transport has agreed that the High Speed line will run direct to York as well as Leeds.

That will give our city a huge boost. York Central also provides huge opportunities for housing and for new and growing businesses.

I have persuaded the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Dr Vince Cable, to meet me and council representatives to discuss how to bring the site into use. Dr Cable, who is from York, is willing to meet and he is keen to take the matter forward.