WELCOME TO MY WEEKLY UPDATE- NO.263.
I am back in Godalming tomorrow but had a busy week in Poland and Ukraine where I briefed President Zelenskyy on our new defence commitments. He really is one of the bravest men on the planet and I felt proud that the UK is standing behind Ukraine as its most rock-solid ally - you can see a summary video here. In Poland I was with the PM when he announced a significant increase in defence spending which we hope will be the start of a much bigger commitment to defence and security by our European friends. A proud week to be British...
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
TIME TO RECOGNISE THE WORLD HAS CHANGED One of my most significant acts as Chancellor will be finding a way to make a massive new commitment to our defence and security. I was with Rishi Sunak in Poland as he announced this week that the UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of the decade – reaching £87bn a year in 2030. This spending will modernise our Armed Forces, radically reforming defence procurement, and also create a new Defence Innovation Agency to ensure the UK is at the cutting-edge of modern warfare technology such as drones. Why now? Two reasons. Firstly the world has changed with a much more aggressive partnership between Russia and China to destroy a world order that has brought more peace and prosperity to mankind than ever before. And secondly because we have turned round the British economy with inflation now at 3.2% and the IMF saying last week we will grow faster than France, Italy, Germany and Japan over the next 6 years. The UK’s commitment is part of a pledge we want other European nations to follow - and if they do, NATO spending will increase by £140 bn a year, more than a match for Putin’s war machine. But the point of doing this is not to fight a war but avoid a war: the biggest provocation for dictators is weakness.
THEN ONTO THE GLOBAL FRONTLINE FOR FREEDOM I continued my trip straight onto Ukraine, where it was a true honour to meet President Zelenskyy and Finance Minister Marchenko. After a briefing from our Ambassador, I set off to see President Zelenskyy. In my books he must be the bravest man on the planet having survived multiple assassination attempts by the Russians. He was calm, softly spoken and crystal clear about what he needs. How do you survive as a hunted man for 2 years - and still manage to pop up in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin? I reiterated our rocksolid for Ukraine and explained our new 2.5% commitment. These are a proud, brave and strong people facing unimaginable pressure. It is a big increase in spending, but it is far cheaper than letting Putin win in Ukraine as I told the BBC. Hopefully alongside the $61 bn support agreed this week from the US, it will be a turning point. For more detail on our announcements, see here.
LONDON MARATHON Last Sunday I ran my third London Marathon and I wanted to write a massive thank you to everyone who supported me (again!) this year. Over £43,000 has been raised for the new Cancer Centre at the Royal Surrey, making a grand total of £110,500 from my three marathons. I wrote about the exhilaration and exhaustion of the day in my Herald column this week. I was running in a huge group of over 20 people overall, who are all close friends and family of my late brother Charlie who was the one who convinced me to run my first marathon in 2022. His group raised over £100,000 for Sarcoma UK, a charity which funds research into the highly aggressive cancer that he had. In a way that was the most noticeable thing about the day: so many people raising funds for good causes, especially health causes and often in honour of lost loved ones. It was an uplifting event and something I was truly proud to be part of. So a massive thank you to the 473 people who supported me this time. Will I do a fourth?! I think probably not but never say never…and just in case you forgot the JustGiving page is still open 🙂
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
THAMES WATER COMPENSATION At the public meeting a fortnight ago Thames Water offered a minimum £30 goodwill payment to all affected. This week I followed up with them to ask how the payment would be assessed and paid. As this of such widespread interest here is what they said in full:
"We want to be clear that we absolutely believe everyone who has told us they were affected. There have been cases where our data doesn’t match-up with what people experienced but we don’t doubt for a moment that they are telling the truth. With that in mind, we are committed to the following:
- Providing all customers affected by the water outage, no matter for how long, a payment of £30 as a credit to their bill.
- Providing all customers that have felt the need to follow-up with a complaint or enquiry a payment of £30 in recognition of the poor experience. This will also be as a credit to their bill.
- For those who followed-up with us, we will review each case individually to understand the amount the customer is requesting. If the customer hasn’t been clear, we will assign a sum which is a fair reflection of others on their supply network, but the minimum will be £30. This will bring balance to the payments being made at a local level and applies regardless of how their feedback was received, whether that be through Thames Water, their MP or the Consumer Council for Water.”
CEO Chris Weston has been meeting those affected as he agreed. My team (who represented me whilst I was in Ukraine) say he listened to feedback and recognised Thames Water needs to change - especially in respect of their customer guarantee scheme which is 'not fit for purpose' at the moment. Whilst it should never have got to this, it is progress after months of work.
FEEDBACK WITH CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATER Following on further from the Thames Water public meeting, I am also arranging for residents to have a comprehensive feedback session with Mike Keil CEO of Consumer Council for Water and his team, so watch out for the details of this upcoming imminently.
FARNHAM INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN Good to see that two nights ago Waverley Borough Council awarded extra funding for the Farnham Infrastructure Plan. A few weeks ago I wrote about the development of the town centre in my Herald column. It is really great to see all the progress that has been made– here’s to even more!
ALFOLD Thank you to Alfold Parish Council and Cllr Kevin Deanus for keeping me up to date about the upcoming application for an additional 350 houses in Alfold on the Springbok Estate. I will be keeping a close eye on this as the site is not allocated in the adopted Alfold Neighbourhood plan. I have been contacted by many Alfold residents already about these very controversial proposals.
BRAMLEY There is more work at Gosden Common pumping station this week which is causing traffic on the A281. Thames Water tell us this is hopefully the last of the work to unblock this pipe which should be completed by the weekend.
BLACKHEATH MAY FAIR The Blackheath Village Society are putting on an amazing selection of stalls and live music for the 50th Anniversary of their May Day Fair on Bank Holiday Monday– 6th May 2024. Information about the day and parking can be found here - I hope to be there at some stage with the Hunt tribe.
ASH BRIDGE Over the bank holiday weekend, 19 beams will be installed on the Ash road bridge using a 750-tonne crane to create a new crossing over the railway. A viewing area will be created on the site and residents are invited to watch the work on 4th and 5th May between 10.00 and 12.00, and 16.00 and 17.00. Booking is needed– more information here. One for budding young engineers!
SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS Congratulations to The Star in Godalming and The Hare and Hounds in Farnham for receiving sustainability awards from the British Institute of Innkeeping for their efforts in reducing waste and increasing recycling. Do raise a glass to their outstanding work this weekend!
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AND FINALLY… The London Marathon had lots of runners with some amazing stories, with lots of impressive records broken. Highlights and pictures here, here, and here – including a pair running together dressed as a camel!
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