Next week is the selection for the new Fareham and Waterlooville seat where I am up against Suella Braverman. Any Conservative Party members in the Waterlooville area, Denmead and Wickham, please let me know if you haven’t received any details, want to talk to me or need a lift on Wednesday 5th April for the meeting at 7pm.
I am only interested in representing people in an area that I know well and this is the only seat that I have applied for. I want to continue to be the MP in the place I have called home for 37 years.
Those of you who are not members or in the area can relax. I will, of course, be the Meon Valley MP until the next General Election and will be working hard on your behalf as I have always done.
We also have local elections and this has given me the opportunity to get out on the doorstep and it has been very encouraging to speak to so many people that we have helped and everyone seems to know me. I always find that surprising and it is lovely that people appreciate how hard my team and I work. Watch out as it might be on your doorstep during the next few weeks!
This week was dominated by the Illegal Migration Bill. I signed some amendments to make sure that there are more safe routes outside the four that exist at present for those who are escaping persecution - Ukraine, Hong Kong, Syria and Afghanistan. I am also concerned about children with or without their families. The amendments were not moved as the Government agreed to consider them at report stage so I will keep an eye on them.
We must break the cross-channel business model of the people smugglers and stop the dangerous journey because 56 people died last year. However, we must not forget that there are responsibilities that we have signed up to under international law.
We also need to speed up the processing of applicants so that it is no longer worth spending £5000 to come over in an overcrowded boat only to spend a few weeks in a military camp before being sent back because they have no right to be here
The Education Select Committee this week looked at special needs education. There are not enough teachers specialising in this area and I would like to see every teacher have some training on how to work with special needs children and recognise autism.
I once had a mother come into my surgery worried about her 15-year-old daughter who was not getting on well at school and had no friends. I suggested that she might be autistic and perhaps they should investigate. A couple of years later, I had an email from the mother saying that I had transformed their lives as she was diagnosed as autistic and now measures were in place and she was now doing very well and happy. It is at times like this that you realise how worthwhile this job is.
Tuesday saw the King’s Colour Squadron performing outside the Speaker's House. The marching was impressive and the band played some great tunes. They are all classically trained and it is a good full-time job for musicians in a competitive industry
The All-Party Group on Women and Work I chair had its AGM this week. Every year we publish a report with recommendations to government about the barriers to women in the workplace. Over the next year we are going to look at the issues of each decade of a woman’s life and aim towards contributing to election manifestos with policy recommendations. It is going to be a packed agenda.
Ferrero UK had an event in Parliament and told us it uses sustainable palm oil and cocoa beans. I was pleased to hear this as I love their chocolate and make a mean Nutella cake. Sadly, the goodies had run out by the time I had got there as I had wanted to pick up something for my Parliamentary office staff
I had lunch with some politicians from Jersey to talk about education and it was interesting to hear about the lack of affordable housing in Jersey. This means it is very difficult to get teachers, doctors and other public servants to come. 50% of their schools are private and are subsidised by the taxpayer. They are going to have to look at how they fund public services in the future to maintain them.
Today I have been doing one of my favourite activities, visiting a school. It is Padnell Infant School today and I took two of my favourite books to share. I had another of my ‘Meet your MP’ in the Red Lion in Southwick before doing some campaigning in the area.
Today is also "Wear a hat day" to promote awareness of brain tumours. More information on the campaign is here.
We are now into the Easter recess so I will be in the constituency helping our council candidates and getting next Wednesday over with! There will be no e-newsletter until 21st April.
Have a great Easter.
