Thursday saw Covid restrictions largely lifted but I know that most of us will continue to be cautious and wear masks in crowded areas to protect ourselves as well as others. We do have to live with the virus, as we have done with other viruses, but there are still people being hospitalised with Covid so I will be wearing my mask and regularly taking lateral flow tests, especially when meeting people in the constituency.
The news in Parliament this week has been dominated by events in Ukraine. I met with the Ukrainian Ambassador on Wednesday and they are very grateful for the UK’s, including sending anti-tank missiles for self-defence and British troops to help train local forces on their use.
The PM gave a statement on Tuesday about his negotiations with President Putin and with other concerned leaders. My view is Putin remains stuck in the Cold War and regrets the breakup of the Soviet Union, but fails to realise those days are long gone. The Foreign and Defence Secretaries are working very hard with others to prevent the catastrophe of an invasion by Russia and I hope that we are not drawn back into the dark years of the Cold War once more.
On a more positive note, I organised a visit for Donna Jones, the Police and Crime Commissioner, and Dame Caroline Dinenage MP to Oarsome Chance last Saturday. This is an amazing charity that works with young people referred to it by schools and the police, to put them back on track.
I first met John Gillard, the Principal, when he was working with my husband on another charity taking disadvantaged children out sailing, and he is a miracle worker with young people that are being excluded from everywhere. Although it is in Gosport, it takes youngsters from a wide area, including Meon Valley, and I was keen that Donna saw how spending money at this age prevents huge problems with the police and the justice system later.
The enthusiasm of those attending was obvious and they are now asking to take exams as they can see the benefit but it is being done in a way that they can handle rather than a formalised school approach.
The Times newspaper announced its interim report on education this week. It is exactly the same as I said in my paper in 2020 and I hope that the Government will soon listen, as this will help keep disengaged young people in schools rather than having to find places in other organisations, like Oarsome Chance, who have to continue to battle for funding to keep going. You can find out more about them here.
As part of DWP, I am very pleased to see the focus on getting 500,000 people back into work. There are 1.2m vacancies and 1.8m people on Universal Credit, who are not in work, so providing training and support through our Job Centres is crucial. We have Work Coaches in every Job Centre who work with individuals and make sure that they are able to access training, and also transport and clothing for interviews. I visited one of our local Job Centres recently and they were delighted with the support that the Government is giving to help them get people into work.
More good news on the Down Syndrome Bill, which I have been sponsoring. We got it through the committee stage in the House of Commons, and it will have its third reading next week. This is a landmark bill which can now be amended by Parliament so it will help other people with similar conditions in the future. We do need to make sure that there are long-term employment opportunities too and we will include that later. It is important with Private Members’ Bills to keep them simple to get them through Parliament but ensure that they are able to be amended later.
Yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day when we remember the extermination of the six million Jews and millions of others by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. Sadly, we have not learned from this blot on our history and genocide continues to happen as I learned in Bosnia last year. Fewer people are now left who have survived the concentration camps but we must keep this atrocity in our curriculum so that future generations learn.
We passed several bits of legislation this week including the Leasehold Reform Bill to help those leaseholders that are being hit by ridiculous increases in their ground rent; the Judicial Review and Courts Bill on Tuesday and the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill to help with the major digital infrastructure upgrade.
I mention these because I am concerned about unfounded criticism that the Government is paralysed by the No10 issue. I can assure you it is not and we are all working hard on behalf of constituents to continue with our manifesto and help individuals in important ways.
My weekly roundup is going out this morning as I have several meetings in the constituency later today, including chairing a meeting on drug reform with many local stakeholders which I am very much looking forward to.
Have a great weekend.
