After returning from London and the Presentation of Addresses by both Houses of Parliament to His Majesty King Charles III, I took the time to visit and sign a number of the books of condolence around the constituency, this included Thornley, the Trimdons, Piercebridge, Middleton St George and Newton Aycliffe amongst others.
I also took the opportunity to schedule our next surgeries on 7 October. As always if you want to catch up, please get in touch.
Last week I went to services commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth at St Cuthbert’s Church in Darlington and St Aidan’s Church in Chilton as well as at Durham Cathedral on Saturday.
After the service last Saturday, I was back on the train to London. I had the privilege of going through Westminster Hall on Sunday whilst her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was Lying in State. The organisation of this and the subsequent funeral was a credit to all involved, with everything I saw being impeccably managed.
The respect shown by people throughout the process was a fitting tribute to the extraordinary life and reign of Her Majesty The Queen.
On Monday I went to Hyde Park to observe the funeral on the large screens. Once again there were huge numbers of people present but the atmosphere was very respectful throughout and the silence was perfectly observed.
Tuesday saw me back in the office in Westminster catching up with the London team to start the recovery of my diary due to the rescheduling required. We scheduled a series of meetings with the Treasury ministers and team and later I also had a meeting with Kromek, a business based in NETPark at Sedgefield.
Today I will be travelling to RAF Coningsby as part of the AFPS. (Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme). This is a scheme designed to enable Members of Parliament to engage directly with operational troops to listen to and understand their experiences. We would normally have had an induction first, but this was scheduled for last week and has obviously been rearranged now. I will share more details next week after the visit.
I look forward to an interesting end to this week, including the Business of the House which will include the fiscal event from the Chancellor on Friday, giving more clarity on the new Prime Minister’s proposed actions of support through the challenges we are facing.
As always if you would like to discuss things happening in Westminster or the constituency, please get in touch at [email protected] or call us on 01325 790580
