It was lovely to host a coach party of constituents in Westminster on Monday and to be able to talk to them after their official tour.
We will be organising another coach in the autumn, probably starting from Wickham, so let us know if you are interested. Otherwise, I am usually available on Monday mornings if you have a smaller group that would like to visit.
We had the debate on the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas) Bill on Monday evening and I spoke against it and abstained on the second reading vote along with many colleagues. It is a Bill that stifles freedom of speech and, I believe, the ability of public bodies to make ethical decisions on where they invest. It also made an exception of Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and Golan Heights and I do not think this acceptable. This Bill will now go into committee stage and I suspect there will have to be serious changes if it is to go through both Houses of Parliament.
On Wednesday I was in a Delegated Legislation Committee. These are usually quick Bill committee meetings to put minor legislation through. We frequently must do these and the whips decide who is going to sit from the Government side. This one was on the illegal import of tobacco and was to increase the powers of Trading Standards to visit small businesses like corner shops to check where their cigarettes had come from. Backbenchers rarely speak at these committees as they are uncontroversial and usually supported by all sides.
This one was unusual in that three backbenchers spoke about the impact on small businesses and how draconian any fines would be if they had unwittingly bought from a small trader who might have imported cigarettes illegally.
I have mentioned about putting into the ballot to ask a question of a department before and how I have about a 10% hit rate. This week I had a question to the Welsh department and it is always tricky to link Wales with some of our English constituencies but I was able to link Freeports with the Solent Freeport and the two Welsh ones that have been announced.
One of the pleasures of being an MP is meeting interesting people. This week, it was Michael Rosen, the children’s author and former Children’s Laureate who was promoting school libraries. We have great libraries in all the schools that I have visited and I love Michael’s books. I am now reading them to my grandchildren.
This week, the Prime Minister was attending a service to celebrate 75 years of the NHS so was not at PMQs. We are very lucky to have the NHS although it is not without its challenges, as I heard from the Chief Executive of the Portsmouth Hospital University and IOW Trust this morning.
The strikes by junior doctors and consultants next week are going to be very difficult especially as we come into peak holiday time for workers. I also have meetings with the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust too and am very pleased that we will be getting the new hospital near Dummer by 2030. This will be a centre of excellence and lead to better outcomes for patients.
My grandfather was a GP when the NHS was established and he was able to have a regular salary instead of charging (or not charging) his patients. My daughter is now a Registrar at a major London hospital so I hear first-hand what is going on. We are all going to have to take responsibility for keeping ourselves healthy and fit as we are an increasingly older population living longer with more complex medical needs.
We need to have a big discussion about how we are going to keep the NHS going and I agree with Sajid Javid that a commission that takes politics out of the equation would help look at the longer-term sustainability of the NHS.
I joined a meeting the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the South-East which covers Meon Valley and it is good to be able to show that we can work together across the parties on issues of concern.
On Wednesday I dropped into a meeting to thank BDUK who have just awarded the contract for fast broadband for those difficult to reach rural communities in Meon Valley.
I am very pleased this has happened as I have been working on it since I was elected and it is good news for many of the people who have been contacting me for help. I will be in touch with those constituents separately in the coming days.
Broadband and noisy motorbikes were two of my commitments back in 2019 so I am pleased that I have been able to help with these big issues.
On Thursday, the Public Account Committee looked at the new Health Transformation programme for the Department for Work and Pensions and questioned the Permanent Secretary and officials on how it is going to improve benefits for the disabled and those who cannot work for medical reasons. PIP and other benefits are a big part of an MPs postbag so I hope that this will end the need for many appeals with a better decision-making system.
On Thursday evening I held a meeting on Waterlooville regeneration. There is now a dedicated regeneration manager for Waterlooville. Once we get a town vision and plan into place, that will be the third of my commitments that I promised in my plan when I was elected.
Making a difference and putting things into place is the reason why I became an MP and why I would like to continue as I haven’t finished yet!
I am looking forward to visiting the Grange this evening to see their education programme followed by the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme presentation in Winchester.
Have a great weekend.
