Best news of the week is the announcement the new hospital south of Basingstoke is going ahead and will be built as a hospital 2.0 - one of the standard models for new hospitals. This is very exciting as it will encourage a centre of excellence and with a new motorway junction and plenty of parking and public transport too.
The public consultation will take place this year, I will let you know when. The land purchase and work on the junction should be next year. Local MPs have been working on this for a long time so it is nice to see that it is going to finally take place.
This week we have gone a step further with the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and rejected the Lords Amendments. This should be in law soon and will ensure that some public services are protected when on strike.
We are about to have another strike on the railways next week and junior doctors in the middle of June. We cannot offer the huge rise of 35% in pay that they are demanding. I remember when they received an 11% rise in 2016 and the military 2%. I know this because I had a doctor daughter and a soldier son at the time so this talk about how badly they have done over the years is not acceptable.
We need to curb inflation quickly and it is disappointing it has not fallen as fast as expected but at least it is on the right trajectory.
I had lots of meetings this week on various subjects and dropped into charities and campaigns in Westminster who are raising awareness of their causes. One of these was an event on melanoma, very important as summer approaches.
Skin cancer is the 5th most common cause of cancer in the UK and rising fast so please make sure you wear sunscreen. One of their asks is to make suncream cheaper and I will be joining the campaign.
I was delighted to hear that I was one of the first MPs to sign up to the Baton of Hope which is travelling around the UK to raise awareness of suicide and mental health. Suicide is the largest cause of death for men aged 20-49 but we are also hearing about an increasing number of young women. The rate of suicide in women under 25 has increased by 94% since 2012. I am particularly concerned about school age children where there is an increase and looking at the reasons behind this.
Next week is Recess so there will be no newsletter but I will report back on my fact-finding trip to Palestine – the timetable is packed…….
Have a good bank holiday weekend.
