I hope everyone had a fun Platinum Jubilee celebration. I had a busy recess with Jubilee parties at Age Concern in Waterlooville (including meeting Dame Caroline Dinenage’s aunt who at 96 had only just retired from being one of the main organisers) and Wisteria Lodge in Horndean.
I also had a meeting with the local NFU and farmers about food security and what more the Government needs to do to help agriculture.
One of the recess highlights was meeting the Hampshire Youth Forum where I laid out my ideas on changing the assessment system and an extended school day, which met with a lot of approval. What an amazing bunch of young people and I can see many of them entering politics in the future
At the weekend I also judged the best decorated Jubilee house in Durley with Hampshire County Council leader Rob Humby and went on to Droxford and West Meon fetes.
Like most people, I watched the Jubilee concert and pageant on the television and was pleased to see that the Queen is well prepared if she gets hungry, just like a certain bear! It was a fabulous week of celebrations.
We then returned to Parliament on Monday to hear that there was to be a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Now is not the time to replace the Prime Minister, and it was disappointing that so many colleagues voted against him. I have laid out my reasons below:
1) Although our economy is continuing to grow and we have record levels of employment, we do face cost of living pressures. The PM understands the issue and is dealing with it – we are putting help in place with energy costs for everyone.
2) The Prime Minister and the UK are leading the international community in supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion. I am concerned that not all of our allies are doing as much as they could be, and I want us to be able to put clear pressure on them to step up.
3) We still have much to do to get our progressive manifesto into law. Among the highlights are our new policies to support the environment and agriculture, but we still need to complete our reforms of social care and education. These are things I care passionately about and am working on.
4) The PM led us through the pandemic, and the success of the vaccination programme means we have emerged from Covid quickly and can move forward with confidence. The growth in the economy we see now is possible because of the extensive package of support we put in place for business.
5) The Prime Minister won with a massive Parliamentary majority and I believe we need to recognise that. There have been some weaknesses in the machinery of government exposed, and the Prime Minister has apologised where he has made mistakes. However, I am confident that action has been taken to address these points. I know that the Prime Minister and the government have to work hard to keep the trust of the public.
I know that there are some constituents who do not agree with me - as well as many who do - but I hope that we can prove that we can continue to govern the country effectively through this latest crisis.
In Parliament, we passed the next stages of the National Security Bill on Monday which will strengthen legislation for our security services. We also had DWP questions. I am now the only PPS for the moment as my colleague has had to resign as he is on the privileges committee, so I have to cover all the Ministers now rather than just the Secretary of State until there is a replacement.
On Thursday, this meant a morning of meetings with the Minister for Disabilities and various MPs with constituent issues, I was able to use any spare time to talk about one or two of my own constituents too which was useful.
The rest of the week has been taken up with meetings on the Levelling Up Bill and planning with other MPs and organisations like the CPRE. I met with special advisors at No 10 on Wednesday to discuss all the local issues that are affecting Meon Valley as well as my national ideas.
Waterlooville town centre is at the top of my agenda and I held a public meeting today to discuss the future. I am very pleased that the leader of Havant Council, Cllr Alex Rennie, is working closely with me on this. There is more to come.
I had several other meetings this week including one with an Israeli who is working to bring peace to the Israel/Palestinian conflict. I am very concerned about the direction Israel is taking with the illegal settlements. This effectively means that a two-state solution is becoming increasingly difficult.
I also chaired a meeting with female Ambassadors to the UK including Georgia, Romania, Latvia, Slovenia, Maldives, South Sudan and Namibia to talk about women, peace and security.
On a light note, I took part in the House of Commons/Lords tug of war. We had a Welsh international prop on our side and beat the House of Lords in two rounds. I have to say that I was very stiff the next day so it wasn’t an easy win.
Lastly, I had several constituents visiting Parliament this week including new Cowplain Councillor, Neil Bowdell and family, so please let my office know if you would like to come up to Westminster.
Have a great weekend!
