It is only 25 days until Christmas and tomorrow is Small Business Saturday so I hope everyone will be out spending some money to support our small shops. It is a case of use them or lose them in this internet age. I will be out and about doing my bit as I have loads of presents still to buy and I am very behind schedule.
This week saw the first commercial flight with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on Virgin. This is very exciting news. It is the future of air travel and just in time to help reduce pollution when Southampton Airport extends its runway to take bigger jets. Safran, in my constituency, has been developing SAF for its engines and I have been championing this over many years.
ExxonMobil Fawley also announced this week it has entered the main construction phase of a new low-sulphur diesel facility and it is spending money to build the foundations for lower-carbon fuels in the future with the addition of a new hydrogen plant.
There was also good news from Nissan about increasing the number of electric cars being built in the UK through a big investment at its Sunderland plant, although I am still pushing for more hydrogen fuel use and that was also mentioned this week.
Yesterday, COP28 opened and it will be interesting to see what comes out of that. Sadly, 2023 is supposed to have been the hottest year ever, Britain is still leading the work in combating climate change and the technology that is needed to help reduce it.
There was a showcase of quantum computers this week which will help in many areas, including climate change and medicine – I listened intently but I am not sure I really understand how quantum works - it uses binary in a different way. I think my role is just to support organisations that are pushing for this.
Last week, someone on the doorstep said that Britain was a laughing stock in the world. This is completely wrong and I do dislike those who decide to be so negative about our country. I speak to people from around the world frequently and we are still very much respected and people want to work, trade, study in our country. Our amazing country is doing incredible work in many policies and leading in many areas. There is a lot to be proud of.
Tackling homelessness is something I have always been concerned about, and I served on the committee which got the Homelessness Reduction Act into law. This week we heard about £148m more support to help those rough sleeping and this is welcome.
The money will be given to local authorities and housing providers across England to provide 1,230 homes and it forms just one part of a wider package of support for rough sleepers. The government has committed to spend £2 billion over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
On Monday in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), we discussed the Work of Ofwat and flood defences. I am particularly worried about building on flood plains and questioned the Environment Agency on this. Often the land is cheaper and developers build a lot of houses on flood plains but it is not helping with flooding and storm overflows.
I also asked about using permeable materials as that is also an issue around developments.
There was no opposition on Monday to the King’s Speech and it went through, the National Insurance changes went through yesterday, again without a vote, so it is good to see that all parties agree with the direction the Government has laid out.
On Tuesday we had the second reading of the Criminal Justice Bill. This legislation is designed to strengthen various measures including protecting the public from violence and intimidation, violence against women and girls alongside strengthening other laws. On Wednesday, we had several votes on the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which will reduce burdens on businesses, but also give confidence to organisations on how they use data.
On Thursday we had a pre-panel on reducing the harm of illegal drugs in PAC before the main panel on Monday. This was very interesting as we heard from Dame Carol Black about her report that has been influential in setting the government’s 10-year strategy on dealing with drugs and the treatment of drug users. We heard there is some very good work going on and the strategy is good but we need funding to be guaranteed for a longer period to enable organisations to plan. We will be putting all these questions to the Department of Health and Home Office on Monday.
Other meetings included a very depressing panel on Palestine with an Israeli lawyer, an ex-Egyptian Ambassador and ex-US Ambassador who had been part of previous peace talks. We discussed who should take on the role of leading peace talks but it was inconclusive as the USA shows no sign of wanting to, plus it is an election year for the President.
In-between meetings, I dashed into a showcase of around 10 English whisky distillers. The production of English whisky started around 20 years ago but not in our area – the nearest was the Cotswolds. I like whisky and it was quite good! However, I will continue to spend my time lobbying for our local vineyards and small brewers.
Can I recommend this week’s Briefing Room on Radio 4 which delves into the immigration numbers.
Have a great weekend.
