Dear Constituent,
It is now a week since Labour delivered their damaging Autumn Budget, and I have been using this time to engage with my colleagues to challenge some of their incredibly ill-thought out policies.
This week has also been an important week, the first with the new leader of the Conservative Party and the week prior to Remembrance weekend. I have seen many of my fantastic colleagues accept new, exciting challenges and others such as my predecessors, seek slightly quieter lives after a busy few months guiding us through Opposition business.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do send me an email via [email protected], and my team and I will endeavour to help where possible.
With every good wish,
WHAT'S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
REMEMBRANCE IN WESTMINSTER
Ahead of Remembrance weekend, I paid my respects to those past and present and of all faiths who have served our country.
A more light-hearted commemoration was organised by the Royal British Legion and The Inter-parliamentary Group. MPs competed to cycle the furthest distance in 5 minutes on a stationary bike. I was top of the leaderboard until my Conservative colleague, and last year's winner Dr. Ben Spencer overtook me in the last hour - but I enjoyed being the most physically fit Member of Parliament for a whole four hours!
This weekend I will be attending memorial commemorations at Farnham, Liphook, Haslemere and Bordon. I hope to see many of you across the four parts of the constituency.
CONGRATULATING KEMI
Last Saturday, I, along with Conservative colleagues attended the long-awaited announcement of the new Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch.
Having supported Kemi’s campaign back in 2022, I am delighted that she has been elected as our leader and has my full backing - I believe that we have a very promising future ahead of us.
WEEKLY HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE COMMITTEE UPDATES
This week I attended the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s second week of meetings in Parliament.
The first inquiry I am working on is addressing the 'Cost of Inaction in Adult Social Care' to investigate the cost of late intervention or diagnosis to individuals, to the NHS and to local authorities'.
At the Autumn Budget announcement, the Chancellor promised £600m to social care, which is to be shared between adults’ and children’s social care. The amount comes to just 1.5% of the £38.6bn already set aside by Councils to spend on adults’ and children’s social care this year and next (PoliticsHome). In an interview with Parliament’s The House Magazine, our Committee Chair has conceded that the Labour Government has made a “glaring omission” when it comes to social care.
This will certainly be an interesting inquiry and I will endeavour to keep you updated with our findings.
UPPING NATIONAL INSURANCE ON EMPLOYERS WILL ONLY HARM OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
In response to last week’s Budget announcement, I co-signed my Conservative Colleague Dr. Neil Shastri-Hurst’s letter to the Chancellor in order to express my disagreement with her decision to increase employer’s national insurance contributions, with particular focus on doctors, dentists, care homes and hospices.
These are services under extreme public strain, and we have all seen the pressures that NI contribution increases will have on all businesses - let alone those that rely on around-the-clock care and contribution.
I am proud to vote against Labour’s taxes on working people.
ARMED FORCES APPRENTICESHIPS
Having recently joined the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme naval section, I fully support the work that our armed forces - across all services - do for society.
I am also incredibly supportive of apprenticeships and call on the Government to incentivise this avenue as a highly credible alternative to university. The Army for example run great apprenticeships, aimed at their soldiers and support training for all types of key hard skills including engineering, telecoms, medical, construction, accounting, and even animal care!
For those interested, please click the following link for further information: https://jobs.army.mod.uk/regular-army/what-you-get/apprenticeships-skills/
CHALLENGING LABOUR'S FARM TAX
Labour’s Budget launched a personal and damning attack on our farmers, who represent the backbone of our society, providing us with food security and nutrition.
I joined colleagues from across both the House of Commons and House of Lords to firmly reject the Chancellor’s imposition of unfair thresholds and raising inheritance tax on family farms.
The Government’s clear disregard for our farmers has been proved, and I will work with my colleagues in Parliament and farms locally such as Pierrepont in Frensham (whom I visited recently) and Meadow Cottage farm in Bordon (who I am visiting next week), to see what I can do to represent their worries in the continuing Budget debates next week.
CATCHING UP WITH CHARITIES
This week has been busy in the House of Commons with many charities reaching out to ask me to advocate and challenge the Government on a diverse range of issues.
Education has been a core theme this week, firstly meeting Edge the education providers and then onto the Reading Agency where I reinforced my commitment to improving literacy rates. A strong legacy of the last Conservative Government was increasing literacy rates to 4th in the world. Prior to this the UK ranked 22nd for literacy and 24th for numeracy, so it is no minor achievement that they have raised so exponentially.
Another great information session was with Nisa. Nisa, like many of their supermarket counterparts play huge roles in funding local community projects and supporting initiatives in Farnham and Bordon. Like ASDA who have given £2324 to primary schools across Farnham and Bordon so far in the financial year of 2024/2025.
WHAT'S GOING ON IN FARNHAM AND BORDON
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY FRIDGE
I joined volunteers in Brambleton Hall for their regular ‘community fridge’ event on Fridays, where I witnessed first-hand their incredible work with local residents.
The ‘fridge’ is stocked with food and other goods that can no longer be sold in supermarkets. The atmosphere was so welcoming, with teas, coffees and cakes available, and I was pleased to meet some of the locals who were there utilising the contents of the ‘fridge’ on the day.
On a slightly different topic, the Hall also has a boxing ring for community use. This provides an outlet for young people to take up a new sport and develop skills. Their collage board featured newspaper clippings of their successes if a clear testament to the benefit this facility brings.
VISITING VICKY'S
I was delighted to visit one of the top restaurants in Haslemere– Vicky’s – to discuss the impact of the Labour Budget and other commercial concerns shared by many local hospitality businesses. Vicky’s is located in a special part of Haslemere for me personally, as it is in fact directly opposite my grandparents’ old shop, Stafford’s.
The national insurance employer’s contribution rise, higher minimum wage and expected changes to workers’ rights is going to hit our hospitality industry hard. These businesses are often run on extremely tight margins, where even minor changes can put them at risk. While I was pleased that Vicky’s is in a strong position, they are concerned for the future and I have met with many other businesses facing similar or worse problems.
I’ll be taking these away to raise with the relevant Ministers and work with other businesses in the coming months.
A BIG DAY FOR THE PHOENIX
At the end of last month, the Phoenix Theatre in Bordon celebrated an arts open day following a large renovation over the summer. It was wonderful to pop in to see some of the exciting displays on show, and I satin on a reading of local story ‘The Booth’ which provided some authentic entertainment.
I’ve previously written in The Herald about how important it is to support our arts and heritage, and venues like The Phoenix are central to our local theatrical industry. I have offered them my full support in the past and continue to do so wherever I may be able to help.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: HASLEMERE LUNCH CLUB
I have recently met with a representative of the Hindhead Lunch Club, a registered charity, who told me about the need for more volunteer cooks to keep the Haslemere lunch club operational.
The aim of the lunch club (which meets in St Albans Church Hall) is to provide inexpensive good quality meals in a social setting for the elderly on a weekly basis. However it has recently had to reduce the frequency of meals to once per month due to the lack of volunteer cooks.
It’s a fantastic local cause, so if you feel you would be able to help, please do let me know and I would be thrilled to connect you with the organisers who can provide you with more information.
I’m looking forward to visiting the club in the near future.
