GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.291
After a beautiful autumn weekend in Surrey including some great doorstep chats in Shalford I am back in Westminster with a jam-packed week including the NFU Farmers protest tomorrow. I also launch my survey on mobile phone coverage which I need you to fill in so I can sort out the ‘not spots.’ I am also launching a new all party parliamentary group on patient safety (stopping preventable deaths in the system) which some of you may remember was a big focus of mine when I was Health Secretary.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
FARMERS FUMING Tomorrow in London huge numbers are expected in Whitehall in protest of the Government's plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million. I will be speaking with a number of local farmers who are coming. I really don’t think Rachel Reeves understood what she was doing: giving family farms multi-million pound tax bills will just mean they go out of business. It will also affect the value of agricultural land meaning even now farmers will struggle to get the loans they need to expand. Please do consider signing this petition which already has over 100,000 signatures or head down to the protest tomorrow - details here.
LOCKED AND LOADED News broke last night that the White House had finally given Ukraine approval to use long-range missiles supplied by the US for strikes in Russia. About time too - but it slightly feels like President Biden is trying to pre-empt Trump at a moment when Russia has every incentive just to sit things out until he arrives. At any rate the UK should follow suit and we are expecting an announcement imminently.
STARMER COSIES UP TO CHINA Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping today at the G20 summit. It was significant because it is the first time a UK Prime Minister had met with Xi Jinping since 2018. Worried though I am about many aspects of China’s rise, I think it is the right thing to do: we need to have dialogue with China if nothing else to avoid misunderstandings. We will also need to work with China on issues like climate change. Overall we will need to show a careful mix of strength and engagement. Things may of course get tricky if the UK is asked to choose between large Chinese projects or exemptions to Trump’s tariffs. That being said, as I said two weeks ago on BBC Radio 4 show PM (34 mins in), Sir Keir Starmer is the only leader of a major country in Europe who could still be in office in 2029 when Trump will have to leave the White House so it does give him a lot of global clout if he chooses to use it.
NHS REFORM Last week Health Secretary Wes Streeting unveiled his plans for NHS reform. I gave my reaction during an interview with Andrew Marr on LBC. Whilst I wish him well, I am worried that these reforms are more of what previous health secretaries (including me) have tried: pouring money in, overwhelming the system with new targets and threatening to fire managers. The basic problem is surely not poor managers but the way we make managers poor at their job by micromanaging them with thousands of targets from the centre. Wes Streeting is very capable but seems to be copying what Labour did under Blair/Brown with a ruthless focus on the 18 week target and financial balance. The problem is that we might end up with the same result: Mid Staffs, Morecambe Bay and other scandals that happened because the system treated people as numbers not patients.
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
PIPELINE OVER HALFWAY COMPLETE Many of us remember the August 2022 water outage which left 8,500 residents of Cranleigh, Shere and surrounding areas without water for days. Following this Thames Water agreed to construct a new massive 9km pipeline to improve water resilience (costing £46m). Over 5.8km of the pipeline is now constructed stretching between Pewley Reservoir in west Guildford to Netley Mill water treatment works in east Guildford - you may have seen the huge amount of work going on. Very welcome news to all those living in the Shere and Cranleigh area, but we need to keep the pressure on Thames Water to ensure we get the service improvements we need….
MOBILE PHONE SIGNALS - YOUR MP NEEDS YOU! Last week it was the turn of Virgin/02 to update me on their coverage across Godalming and Ash. Now I am going to map where people say the gaps are by provider so I need YOUR help…. Please click here to fill in my mobile survey! It won’t take more than a minute but will help me know where I need to ask the phone companies to improve the signal e.g. Cranleigh and Godalming High Streets and in a number of villages such as Gomshall, Peaslake, Bramley and Shamley Green.
BLACKWELL FARM SOLAR FARM CONTROVERSY Last week Compton Parish Council requested this application be called-in to the Secretary of State after it was controversially approved by Guildford’s planning committee. I share those concerns and am supporting Compton PC and Campaign for the Protection of Rural England’s (CPRE) - take a look at my letter here.
NEW SIGNAGE SURREY HILLS NATIONAL LANDSCAPE Although I couldn’t make the Surrey Hills Symposium last week it was brilliant to learn of the grand unveiling of the new metal Surrey Hills National Landscape signage. Designed to last for generations, the signage incorporates the classic swirling Surrey Hills logo.
BRAMLEY PUBLIC MEETING Asda, their Environmental Consultants EPS and Openreach are confirmed for the upcoming public meeting on Friday 29th November. Look forward to receiving an update on the clean-up and the compensation plans - put it in your diary!
KINSHIP CARE A shout out for Family Support Group which does brilliant work to optimise life outcomes for children and young people and supports families of all types. Do take a look at the fantastic work they do or if you would like to get involved.
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 ….We’ve all heard about the tallest skyscraper but what do you think about these plans for the longest skyscraper in New York? A very interesting suggestion to circumvent US planning laws which makes me feel a bit queasy just looking at it….
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