I hope everyone had a good Easter.
Again, the media and PMQs have concentrated on parties that happened in No 10. I am still waiting to comment until I have had the whole picture as I was not there and have only read about it in the media.
I am disappointed that the opposition continues to spend valuable Parliamentary time bringing this subject up before all the evidence has been published. When Sue Gray’s report goes into the public domain and the police have finished their investigation that will be the moment to decide the way forward.
A great deal of time last Thursday debating whether to refer the PM to the Privileges committee instead of childhood cancers. I am pleased that the PM will be referred, but we could have done it quickly once we had all the facts. We have a cost-of-living crisis, a war that could spill further if we are not careful, economic recovery from the pandemic, an energy crisis alongside important bills going through on health and social care, nationality and borders and police, sentencing and crime.
All of these are incredibly important and I would like to see some opposition really holding our government to account, rather than focusing on something that we do not have the whole facts on largely for political interest not national interest.
I say this not to lessen the loss that so many people have suffered in so many ways (including the PM) or to condone his actions, because I don’t, but because our job as MPs is to scrutinise and pass legislation that has a big impact on all of us.
Last week, I met with the people leading the Southampton City of Culture bid. It has been widened to a regional bid so I hope that Meon Valley will get some attractions, if it is successful.
The announcement will be on 26th May. I have asked that the opening attractions be spread around the region rather than just in Southampton as I can imagine the traffic and crowds in the city and we could all put on some interesting events in the villages and towns.
I had a briefing with the Foreign Secretary on Ukraine too and asked about the red lines for negotiation, both for Ukraine, but also for us as I am concerned that if Russia does win, how are we going to contain Putin. At the moment, we are concentrating on sanctions and have gone further than the EU and the USA. We will be stopping any imports of oil or gas from Russia by the end of the year and I know that other countries are looking to do the same but it is at some cost to ourselves as we are already feeling the increase in energy prices.
I am pleased that we are committed to increasing our self-sufficiency with nuclear and green energy but they will take time. We are one of the biggest donors to Ukraine - £120m has been spent so far out of the £220m. Our aid money is being used to fund food, accommodation (as most Ukrainians want to stay near their country), plus education in neighbouring countries.
I attended an online meeting with 34 Parliamentarians from around the world to hear from the Ukrainian education minister, who told us that three million children are still in the country and they are working on continuing their education with some very brave teachers who have remained.
The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister continue to shore up support from other countries as it is only as an international block that we can persuade Putin to retreat. I was hoping to ask a question about India at Trade Questions this week because they buy 70% of their weapons from Russia and I think this could be a good opportunity for our own defence industry, but was not called because of lack of time.
We passed the second reading of the Online Safety Bill and I spoke to several organisations involved in the implementation of measures at present. This should help protect everyone but particularly children, older people and the vulnerable who may not be so tech savvy from fraud and exploitation.
We voted further on Lords amendments on the Nationalities and Borders Bill (11 votes in all which took two hours to get through) as well as the Building Safety Bill and Subsidy Control Bill. We have further votes on Lords amendments next week on the Health and Care Bill; Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill, and the Elections Bill as we try to finish legislation before the prorogation of Parliament and a new session following the Queen’s speech on 10th May.
