WELCOME TO MY WEEKLY UPDATE NO.278
Yesterday we had the King’s Speech and the start of a new era with the Labour’s first State Opening of Parliament for 15 years. It was a chance for people to get a first glimpse of what a Starmer government will be like and in some ways we are none the wiser: certainly not Jeremy Corbyn but with its big state solutions to everything not Tony Blair either. I am now busy setting up my new Godalming and Ash office and have been hitting the ground running with a public meeting with Asda on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing Bramley fuel leak.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
KING’S SPEECH POMP By tradition the Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor walk together to the Lords so I had a chance to catch up with Rachel Reeves for the first time since the election - mainly to tell her how lucky she was to have such brilliant Treasury civil servants working for her who just two weeks earlier had of course been working for me. Aside from the content (more below), I did find myself marvelling at the smooth and almost cordial way power transfers in Britain: generous comments from Rishi to Keir, equally generous comments back, walking side by side to the Lords - this really is part of the magic of democracy that I talked about on my election night speech.
AND THE BEEF In terms of content the good news is there were no big surprises in the legislative programme set out by Sir Keir Starmer yesterday. The King’s Speech is a moment when the government lays out its plans for the following year. There were plenty of measures that I find myself able to support, including the phasing out of smoking for young people - as a parent I am delighted my children will never be able to buy cigarettes. On the economy there was a rather depressing reliance on state solutions which have never worked well in this country - anyone want to go back to British Rail or the Central Electricity Generating Board? I was also worried about the introduction of Angela Rayner’s French-style labour laws including protections for unfair dismissal from day one. They sound attractive but the result is employers hesitate to offer jobs - why French unemployment is nearly double ours. There were also some worrying omissions: no commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2030 as Rishi Sunak had promised; nothing on welfare reform, where the non-pensions bill will be £90 bn, more than our entire education budget.
FOR US LOCALLY There were things that will give us concern if they are implemented in a ham-fisted way, namely the reintroduction of top down housing targets - something I will be watching like a hawk. That said I do agree the planning system needs a big overhaul and made some big changes myself in last year’s Autumn Statement.
BUT THE BIG ARGUMENT WILL BE…on the economy of course. Rachel Reeves has been trying to soften us up for tax rises by talking about the worst economic inheritance since the war. Unfortunately for Labour the facts tell a different story: inflation at 2%, unemployment at 4.4% and the fastest growth in the G7. In fact the IMF has just upgraded our growth forecasts confirming that we will grow faster than any other large European economy over the next six years. Labour will no doubt argue, shaking their heads, that having now seen the books the numbers are far worse than they had thought - but that argument is roundly rejected by Paul Johnson of the IFS who points out that because of the OBR, ministers knew exactly what they were facing ahead of the General Election.
AND YOU CAN NEVER FORGET TRUMP Scenes from the weekend with the attempted assassination on Donald Trump are deeply concerning for everyone of all political persuasions. It isn’t just the former President who dodged a bullet - so too did American democracy which would have been shattered if the attempt on his life had been successful. And because America remains the world’s leading and most powerful democracy, that would have been terrible for all of us who believe in democratic values and the open societies on which they depend.
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
BRAMLEY FUEL ISSUES Thank you to everyone who came to the Bramley fuel leak public meeting on Tuesday. The room was absolutely packed and with the Chairman of Asda Stuart Rose present we were able to make real progress. Importantly he committed to paying compensation for the very first time.
Asda’s environmental consultants EPS outlined their plan to deal with respective sections of the High Street and immediate surroundings of the petrol station. They could not confirm just how much petrol is in the ground or how much has been recovered but it sounds like the work is progressing at pace. Colin Chiverton of the Environment Agency made clear the clean up is expected to take at least a year because the fuel needs to be pulled slowly out from the ground to avoid further issues. Of course the team should be doing anything they can to speed all of this up where possible.
Openreach spoke about some of the issues they face and how they are unable to test connections. This could have an impact over a wide radius so it is a worrying issue.
The good news is that Thames Water have completed the main (and most disruptive) piece of pipe replacement work. There is some further work to be done on Clockhouse Lane, Mill Lane, Old Rectory Close, and Park Drive, with further details to be shared very soon.
Importantly I secured a commitment from Lord Rose to return in September to update us on the following four key points:
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A commitment to improve communications, increase community involvement, and to have representation from local people on the respective recovery groups.
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His urgent commitment to discuss with Asda’s board how to support struggling local businesses via a quick compensation payment.
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Openreach to help investigate how they can restore telecommunications to those impacted.
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Fuller advice for Bramley residents about the risk of long-term exposure at low levels to benzene and other hydrocarbons.
Bramley residents have been simply fantastic, with lots of local people working together to donate their time and expertise to ensure Bramley is well-represented and concerns are addressed. Thank you in particular to Cllr Jane Austin, Helen Melia, Bramley Parish Council, the indomitable Alice Philips from St Catherines school and Bramley Residents Action Group.
SHALFORD KINGS ROAD Surrey County Council are looking to enhance Shalford’s Kings Road in a way that supports local businesses and increases road safety. If you have any thoughts or comments on what should happen, do take a look at this website.
BASINGSTOKE CANAL One of my priorities as a local MP has been to focus on cleaning up our waterways, and I have secured significant investment from Thames Water to this end. The Basingstoke Canal Society focuses on protecting– you guessed it– Basingstoke Canal, which goes through Ash Vale. Surrey County Council has put some money into protecting the canal but the society is still looking for further donations, members, and volunteers. Visit their website for more information here.
KNOWLE PARK Lots coming up in Knowle Park this weekend, including parkruns for both adults and children, and a car show! If you’re interested, check out the link here.
FARNHAM AND BORDON There are of course several areas in the old South West Surrey constituency that I no longer represent as they now fall into the Farnham and Bordon constituency. You have voted for the brilliant Greg Stafford who will be starting his own regular email updates. Anyone who would like to receive them should email [email protected].
HOW TO CONTACT ME
WRITE TO ME Apologies if replies are taking a little longer than normal whilst we set things up. But if you ever have any local issues that you think I would be able to help with and would like to contact me, the best and quickest way to get in touch is via email to [email protected]. There is strict parliamentary protocol which means that MPs can only raise issues on their own constituents’ behalf so please do remember to include your address. Alternatively, the constituency office telephone is 01428 609416 or you can send a letter to Jeremy Hunt MP, 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD. Also do take a look at my website for campaigns and petitions: jeremyhunt.org.
SOCIAL MEDIA If you would like more regular updates of my work locally and nationally, do follow me on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Please don’t always assume I will see every comment on a post - email is a more reliable way to ensure a reply.
JOIN ME Want to get more involved with my brilliant election-winning team locally? Email me at [email protected] to help support our work in our community.
AND FINALLY… It wasn’t just the government and the opposition frontbenchwho had friendly catch-ups despite our differences– the Prince of Wales took a picture with the Spanish royals before a very tense Euros final! It was a heartbreaking final result, but great to see England make it so far in yet another international tournament nevertheless…
