GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.294
Hoping you weren’t blown away after an extremely blustery weekend across the UK. Lots of power cuts locally including at my local church in Hambledon but some good progress on the Compton speed camera issue as we contemplate what the coup in Syria will mean for us in the UK.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
SUNSHINE IN SYRIA Over the weekend, Bashar al-Assad’s nearly 25-year reign over Syria finally ended. Syrians around the world have taken to the streets to celebrate with extraordinarily moving scenes of political prisoners finally being released. I visited Damascus and met Assad in nearly two decades ago and remember challenging him about political prisoners in his luxurious presidential palace. As Foreign Secretary I remember how the Middle East has a habit of absorbing much of your time however determined you are to focus on America, Russia or China. The lesson from Libya and Iraq is surely that however much we rejoice at a dictator being toppled we still need stability and may need to work with people whose values we don’t share to achieve it. Putin has granted Assad asylum but this will surely send a chill down his spine: autocrats know their future is far from assured when they finally leave office. And who really thinks they are winning the battle of values this century however much of a low patch democracies are going through?
MEDIOCRE MILESTONES Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last week did what all governments in difficulty do - a ‘relaunch.’ He did with a set of milestonesthat he promises to meet by the next election. But apart from missing any firm commitment to tackle illegal migration (and the 20,000 small boat crossings we have had since Labour came to office), what was disappointing was the general lack of ambition. It’s all very laudable to say the government will bring down waiting times but where is the vision for the NHS compared to, say, Nye Bevan in 1945? In my election night concession speech I congratulated Keir and Rachel for their victory but urged them to focus on proper reforms to the NHS, something Conservative governments always find very difficult. With Labour’s huge majority they can surely do more than what we heard last week.
REFLECTIONS ON MY TIME AS CHANCELLOR Last week I was honoured to be invited to speak to a group of graduate students at King’s College in a course designed in part to help current Treasury officials learn from economic and financial history. I was interviewed by Ed Balls of all people and we covered Labour’s pessimistic view of the British economy, Rachel Reeves’s fictional £22bn blackhole and the remarkable story of how I unexpectedly became Chancellor. John Rentoul has published a write-up in the Independent.
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
THE GREAT COMPTON SPEED CAMERA DEBATE On Friday I met with Compton locals, Cllr Matt Furniss, Surrey roadsafe team and Surrey Police to find a way forward for Compton speeding issues. We reviewed the speed data; vehicles are going over the 30mph limit at the easterly end of the village but under 30mph at the westerly end (where interestingly there are more accidents). The volume of HGVs and lack of pedestrian crossing points are also issues. The council and police agreed to give the parish council two options to choose from - one involving an average speed check camera and the other a 20 mph limit and traffic calming measures. Good progress.
NATIONAL INSURANCE NIGHTMARES CONT. If you want to see the madness of the National Insurance hike in action...take The Meath, a brilliant Godalming charity that supports people with severe epilepsy (and I am patron of). When I visited them on Friday they said the NI rise will cost them £160k and the national minimum wage rise £200k. A budget that was supposed to 'help public services' by 'fixing the foundations' does the precise opposite sadly.
SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY was a moment to celebrate our thriving small businesses across Godalming and Ash who make our area such a wonderful place to live. Special shout out to businesses around Bramley who were dealt a hammer blow this year with the fallout from the fuel leak including months of roadworks. You might remember I took the former PM’s wife Akshata Murty to Bramley (including a coffee in Nest) last June to show our support. Since then Bramley Business Network has been set up to support business recovery - Gill, Sharon and the team are doing a sterling job! Even with the prospect of more Thames Water roadworks this week!
ON YER (CRANLEIGH) BIKE Thanks to Chairman of Cranleigh Cycling ClubAnthony Douglas who popped in with Michael Wheeldon to discuss road safety issues in and around Cranleigh. The club has a great welcoming and inclusive ethos with no cyclist left behind on rides…so a great incentive to get out there and explore our stunning area! We discussed some quite straightforward road tweaks especially on the Elmbridge Bridge which would improve safety and help avoid the dreaded bike/road rage and I have already raised the issue with Surrey Cabinet Member for Highways Matt Furniss.
SURGERY CALLS Both my surgery calls today relate to issues with the planning system. The first was to a resident who lives near Guildford about his frustrations with a planning system that seems to turn down applications on the basis of minor niggles whilst failing to address much bigger issues. I very much agree - in fact Paul Johnson writes interestingly about this in the Times today. The second was to a Tongham resident very frustrated at the common practice in new build developments of leaving outside common areas as ‘private’ so their maintenance has to paid for through service charges when for other properties they would be paid for by the council. This is something I will be looking into when the leasehold reform bill finally comes to the Commons as promised by Angela Rayner (Michael Gove’s version having been timed out by the election).
ALL CHRISTMASSY IN COMPTON Compton Phone Box never fails to bring a smile to our faces and their latest display is no exception. It's all in aid of Phyliss Tuckwell so please donate and show your support for the excellent work of Chris Sharples and his team of ‘phonebox dressers’.
CHARITY CHRISTMAS CARDS Surely this has to be the easiest way to support the Royal Surrey charity ... why not buy your Christmas cards from them? Your purchases will help many of the hospital's charities including the Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre campaign Christmas cards 2024 | Royal Surrey Charity. In the meantime, another £200 added to the coffers from yesterday's Christmas Market in Bordon - big thanks to Chris and Judith Storey.
HAVE YOUR SAY ON POLICING Join Surrey PCC Lisa Townsend and Surrey Chief Constable Tim de Meyer on December 11th at 6.30pm. Book your place here.
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 ... Over the weekend we saw Storm Darragh cause havoc across Godalming and Ash, but further afield it was so windy this waterfall in Northern Ireland flowed upwards! And hats off to this Malaysia airlines pilot who deservedly won praise for this incredibly skillful landing at Heathrow in high winds.
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