WELCOME TO MY WEEKLY UPDATE no.283. Westminster itself remains quiet this week but that doesn’t mean that there is no political news – on the contrary, it’s Labour’s conference this week (with Rachel Reeves speaking today) and the Conservative Conference starts on Sunday. Meanwhile locally we have had an important step forward in my campaign to protect the Surrey Hills protected boundaries and more Bramley fuel leak developments…
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
LABOUR CONFERENCE Party conferences are important to us Westminster politicians because they are one of the rare moments when you get the time and space to make a bigger argument about your values and priorities to the electorate. Think of Tony Blair facing down his own party over clause 4 or David Cameron doing the same on gay marriage. So just what is the big argument our new government is making? I watched Rachel Reeves’s speech with a growing sense of despair. In the nearly three months since winning the election she has used all her valuable airtime to attack her opponents without setting out once what her plans to grow the economy actually are. I will put aside, for this email, the he-says/she-says argument about her fictitious £22 bn ‘black hole.’ But if you want to find more money for public services, where was the principled argument for welfare reform when we have such a big issue with worklessness? If you want to improve productivity, as every Chancellor does, where were the plans to improve it in the one bit of the economy the government controls, the public sector? If you want the NHS to improve, where are the reforms that will reduce bureaucracy on the front line? We had plans in all these areas which I accept will not come to fruition. But the reason The Economist today said Labour has ‘squandered much of the goodwill’ they enjoyed is not just all the freebies. It is because people want governments to govern not just bang on about their opponents.
SEND SCHOOL VAT Rachel’s speech today reiterated her plans to impose VAT on school fees. It is a bad policy but in fairness was in their manifesto so it will now happen. But surely it should exempt Special Educational Needs schools which are hardly Eton or Harrow? I recently signed a letter to Rachel Reeves alongside my Surrey MP colleagues calling on her to do this. Children without EHCPs one will not qualify for any exemption under the current proposals but because there is a huge waiting list to get one in Surrey, thousands of vulnerable children will be forced to leave schools where they are flourishing.
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
SURREY HILLS NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CONSULTATION I've been pushing for the expansion of our stunning Surrey Hills AONB for years with the ultimate goal of turning it into a National Park. Last week we moved significantly closer to the first of those goals when Natural England told me they are launching the second (and hopefully final) public consultation on the proposal to extend the boundary of the Surrey Hills National Landscape (AONB). The consultation will run for 12 weeks from 17th September 2024 to midnight on the 10th December 2024. Last year's public consultation received over 1,500 responses which many of you penned after being encouraged to in this email. Lots more of our precious countryside will be protected so please do the same again! You can do this by filling in the response form here. Natural England have also arranged a number of webinars and face to-face drop-in events which you can find out about on this link.
BRAMLEY FUEL LEAK As featured in the Times this morning this nightmare has simply gone on too long. This week at my request Asda are meeting representatives from the village including the Parish Council to try and unblock compensation. I will also be meeting Openreach CEO Clive Selley to try and get good broadband alternatives put in place whilst the ducts are inaccessible. Two local Wifi hubs are being installed in the village centre which are not a perfect solution but still a step forwards.
STOVOLDS HILL Over the weekend I was contacted by many local residents and councillors who are upset about the damage to a field on Stovolds Hill – flattened by heavy machinery with the topsoil stripped and pushed to one side. It looks like the work has been undertaken without planning permission; this is in a sensitive location adjacent to and overlooked by the Surrey Hills AONB. I have contacted both Claire Upton-Brown, Head of Planning at Waverley Borough Council, and Rob Brian of Surrey Police to ask them to investigate urgently.
BOOST FOR CANCER FUNDRAISING I was hit by the blasted Covid last week so missed the presentation of a cheque for the Royal Surrey’s new Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre (CASIC) of a whopping £8,000 from Rotary Godalming's Anne Gray (thank you Richard Nelson for gamely stepping in for me). Friends of CASIC Chair Judith Storey and Sandy Lowry from the Royal Surrey Charity were also present. What a tremendous effort.
LEVEL CROSSINGS UPGRADED Good to see that four level crossings between Shalford and Gomshall will be getting safety upgrades. Related to this Brook Residents Group have been in touch with concerns about the impact of certain aspects of the upgrades on the AONB protected area which I will raise with Network Rail.
FRIMLEY PARK HOSPITAL REBUILD It is great news that Frimley Park Hospital will definitely be rebuilt to remove RAAC, which is so important for people in the local area and especially around Ash Vale. Well done and thank you to those who worked hard to ensure that Frimley Park would be on the rebuild list– including the indefatigable Ed McGuinness for his petition on the subject.
GODALMING, BINSCOMBE AND CHARTERHOUSE BY-ELECTION A huge good luck to Daniel Husseini ahead of tomorrow’s by-election. Daniel did a brilliant job helping me save the Boots in Farncombe and would be a formidable local advocate. He has personally knocked on nearly every door in the ward, great effort!
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AND FINALLY… Looks like two furry Godalming and Ash residents caused some commuter chaos on a train at Gomshall last week! Let’s hope no more of that…
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