It is always interesting to contrast the view from my perspective in Westminster with that portrayed in the media and the views I hear when listening to real people. In the media you would think everything political was focused on cakes in No 10 and the potential for challenges to the Prime Minister.
For me in Westminster I spent time in meetings as diverse as briefings on the situation re potential war in Ukraine and the concerns and risks to the Northern Ireland protocol. I was also speaking in the chamber on matters affecting us locally, like changes to the regulations on fly tipping and cracking down on hare coursing.
When back in the constituency I spent some time knocking on doors and talking to residents whilst campaigning in the Ferryhill by-election. The people we talked to showed little, if any, interest in Partygate. They could not understand why the claims of a special advisor, who couldn’t see his way to Barnard Castle, were being taken as gospel to provide a reason to remove the Prime Minister. Clearly reality sits somewhere between all these perspectives.
However, I find it inappropriate that when the opposition have the chance to challenge on Ukraine or the cost-of-living challenges in Prime Ministers Questions they instead use all their questions to support their own narrow political agenda to destabilise him. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not in any way saying this issue does not require attention.
I and many, many others are intensely annoyed by the apparent actions of some of the people in Downing Street, I do, however, believe that we need to continue to deal with other issues as well whilst this continues its course.
It was very emotional attending the service that Mr Speaker arranged as part of Holocaust Memorial Day last week, it is so important that these atrocities are not forgotten, and we do all we can to prevent any recurrence.
As you all know one of my biggest areas of focus is the Left Behind Neighbourhoods APPG and we had a major success last week. The minister tabled an amendment to the Dormant Assets Bill specifically referencing that a Community Wealth Fund should be consulted on. This is a huge step forward and significantly increases the prospect that the funds anticipated to be released from dormant assets, which could be close to £900m, could be applied to support social infrastructure in some of our most needy areas. I was pleased to speak in the Report stage supporting the amendment that my APPG had campaigned for.
I also met with other North East MPs, cross party, to review next steps on north east transport, from buses to trains. Whilst there are challenges it is nowhere near as bleak as it was portrayed when the Integrated Rail Plan was announced recently.
I had a catch up on the Levelling Up work for Newton Aycliffe with the team pulling plans together and then met with Durham County Council to ensure this gets the focus it needs. We had discussions with the police about antisocial behaviour and in particular the use of bikes and quad bikes and I anticipate more increased focus on this issue. I also met with businesses from Newton Aycliffe, Darlington and Sedgefield and engaged with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
We saw on Monday the release of the first report from Sue Gray on her investigation into the events that took place in No 10 and the subsequent questions and debate in the House. Whilst this is clearly important and needs to be answered, for opposition benches to criticise the Met Police for frustrating a fuller report, when they were adamant the police should investigate, is disingenuous. I remain disappointed at the amount of time being applied to this when processes need to be followed and interrogation can take place when they are completed. In the meantime, we need to focus on matters in hand.
On Monday we also saw the announcement that mandatory jabs for NHS workers will not be continued due to the changing profile of the pandemic via Omicron compared to Delta. It is a relief that changes have enabled this review, but I would still encourage everyone to get jabbed. I was also able to meet with Wendy Morton, the new Minister for Rail, to emphasise to her the importance of the Ferryhill and Leamside projects and encourage her to visit them and Hitachi at her earliest convenience.
Hopefully some of my commitments will ease a little over the next few weeks and I will spend more time in and around Aycliffe so, if you want to catch up on anything, please send an email to paul.howell.mp@ parliament.uk
