Another busy week in Westminster with the
debates on the King’s Speech progressing
through Monday to Wednesday. The
specifics of the debates are determined by
the opposition - Monday was NHS, Tuesday
was Economic Growth and Wednesday was
about Serious Violence and Violence against
Women and Girls and Raising Confidence
in the Police and the Justice System. It’s
disappointing to see, last week, that the HM
Inspector of Constabulary report found Durham
Constabulary had ‘Requires Improvement’ in
two areas. They also explicitly said that this
was still the situation when compared to other
forces with similar cost pressures. A particular
concern was the engagement with the public,
which we have raised many times, so I hope
we see some focus to sort this out.
It is always a pleasure for me when I get
visitors to show round Westminster. I met a
couple early on Monday evening, before then
surprisingly being able to get them last minute
tickets to PMQs on Wednesday. Early Tuesday
afternoon I met three more people and then,
finally, on Tuesday teatime, I accompanied a
former apprentice from the UTC to a No 10
reception hosted by Rt Hon Michael Gove MP.
Before heading south on Monday 13th
November, I had time in the Constituency office
and met a constituent for a coffee and a very
valuable and insightful chat. Tuesday was a
busy day compounded by the changes in the
recent reshuffle which meant there were three
new Treasury Ministers - Chief Secretary (CST)
– Laura Trott MP, Financial Secretary (FST) -
Nigel Huddleston MP and Economic Secretary
(EST) - Bim Afolami MP. As Parliamentary
Private Secretary (PPS) appointments are the
last to be sorted in any reshuffle, in theory this
meant I was the only available PPS on a day
which had not only Treasury Oral Questions
but the King’s Speech debate on Tuesday was
led by Treasury. Thankfully, one of the senior
PPS agreed to stay and help until the Autumn
Statement is delivered. The Autumn Statement
will have taken place by the time you read this
but is, along with the Budget, one of the two
most critical Statements the Chancellor makes
each year.
On Wednesday I had an Oral Question to
the Department for Science Innovation and
Technology where I asked about progress on
improving broadband in our area. Since being
elected, this has been of major concern to
me, particularly for villages like Killerby and
Morden and, I’m told, we are finally seeing
some progress with announcements imminent.
Before the votes on Wednesday there was a
meeting with MPs and the Home Secretary
following the Rwanda ruling and Government’s
reassurance that they will persevere on
agendas to stop the small boats. We then
voted on the King’s Speech. Attempts were
made to hijack this vote to redirect it to be
about the demands for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The situation in Gaza is beyond complex
and, from the briefings I have had and seen,
a ceasefire would only help Hamas. Some
humanitarian corridors should be provided
and I applaud the efforts of everyone trying to
resolve this.
I attended ‘drop in’ events, one was about the
Deaf Olympics, like the Paralympics, but they
don’t see any funding and they were promoting
their need for some. Another drop in was about
the impact of Retail Crime, this is sometimes
perceived as a victimless crime. It is not! We
need to see real action in this space and I had
discussions about this issue with retail staff in
my two ‘pop up’ surgeries in Tesco, Newton
Aycliffe on Thursday and then Sainsburys,
Sedgefield on Friday. During the pop-up
surgery at Tesco on Thursday it was lovely
when a lady we had helped gave me a box of
Celebrations for my staff, thank you so much.
I had meetings with constituents in the
Constituency office and took a Teams call
about some amazing potential investments
near Sunderland that could impact the whole
of the North East. I also caught up with one of
my many farmers to discuss rural economics
and called in at Ebac for a catch up. On
Friday night I had a fabulous night celebrating
community organisations at the Darlington
Stronger Communities Awards.
Over the weekend I had a couple of
Conservative events including a hustings for
the North East Mayor selection as well as the
pleasure of celebrating the refurbishment of
Wheatley Hill Fire Station. In my experience,
the Fire team manage their estate so much
better than the Police. We still don’t know what
is happening regards Newton Aycliffe Police
Station and I will continue to raise this issue
with the Police and Crime Commissioner.
To finish, some good news, I’m delighted to see
that the Banking Hub has opened significantly
ahead of schedule and I look forward to the
official opening on Friday 1st December. As
always, if you want to get in touch, either call
Newton Aycliffe 01325 790580 or email:
[email protected]