I had travelled down to London the day before as I had an early visit planned to tour Heathrow Airport following an event in parliament last year, which discussed sustainable aviation fuel. As part of my role in the Environmental Audit Committee, net-zero aviation is a high priority for us. Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world, serving millions of passengers every year and connecting to over 214 destinations across 84 countries. I discussed the issues facing all airports across the UK in dealing with border control, noise considerations for those who live under the flight path and emergency preparedness for exceptional circumstances such as bad weather. It was so fascinating to hear that Heathrow airport is also the biggest port in the whole of the country with more goods shipped in and out than any seaport. I then travelled back to Westminster to attend the weekly ministers meeting, this gives the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities a chance to discuss funding and feedback from other members.
Several of my constituents asked me to attend a drop in event in parliament concerning assisted dying. It is always important to hear from all sides of this very emotive subject. My wife and I have opposite views on this based on our own life experiences with our parents. This shows how difficult this issue is to debate. I had a conversation with a very brave woman who came to Westminster to talk about her own illness and what assisted dying could mean for her personal situation. She spoke about dignity for herself and protection for her family. Thank you to everyone who got in touch about this event. These conversations are vitally important to have in parliament and constantly keep raising the question of choice. I headed back to the office for our weekly team meeting to have a catch up with both the constituency and Westminster team for updates on casework, social media, and the following week’s diary appointments. I had to leave the meeting early to attend a meeting with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Lucy Frazer to discuss Grassroots sports funding and costs. Recently, I was contacted by local clubs and the Northumberland football league about the financial challenges they are facing hiring 3G pitches in the area. Following this I met with the manager of Cramlington Town Football Club and then I arranged a meeting with the Football Foundation to push for more funding for grassroot clubs. It was great to hear about the number of projects being funded already which benefit the community in Blyth Valley. With this information in hand, I requested a meeting with the Secretary of State and highlighted all these issues. The Football Foundation will also be visiting both Cramlington Football Club and Seaton Sluice Football Club in the near future. The final item in my diary was the Crisis drop in to discuss how we can make history and build a future free from homelessness.
Tuesday morning I met with Amanda, the Community Fundraiser for the Great North Air Ambulance Service who looks after Northumberland, Newcastle and North and South Tyneside. There are currently no volunteers in the Blyth area, and she has asked me to share some details of what the charity does to raise funding as they require around £20,000 worth of funding per day to keep the charity running. I informed Amanda about community events happening in Blyth Valley over the next few months, the GNAAS have fundraising stall at events, provide talks to schools and to children’s and adult groups too. From here I ran to the chamber to ask an urgent question about what the government are doing to secure humanitarian support in Gaza. Our government are providing over £100million in support to Gaza, however I know many of my constituents want to help to provide aid to Gaza too. I then had a Westminster Hall debate to support Minister Lee Rowley in a Westminster Hall debate on The Khan Review: Threats to Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience.
My final appointment in the diary was to attend Number 10 to welcome Helen Morris and Sheri Devine from Cramlington Kids Club for the Community Childcare Champions reception. This event was hosted by David Johnston OBE MP, Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing to recognise local childcare companies, local schemes and organisation that support early years and give children their best start in life. It was a fantastic day, and I was delighted that Helen and Sheri were able to attend.
Wednesday morning, I was supporting Minister Rowley in another Westminster Hall debate before PMQs. After a quick lunch I attended the Backing British Farmers Event in partnership with Lloyds bank to discuss getting the right financial support to our agricultural and rural businesses. Our farmers feed our nation and play a vital role in protecting and enhancing nature and are central to adaptation and resilience to climate change. This year, the farming sector will benefit from the largest-ever round of grants on offer to support investment in agricultural productivity and innovation, with £427 million of government funding crowding in additional private sector investment.
In the afternoon I attended the Environmental Audit Committee, then I supported Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Felicity Buchan in a Westminster Hall debate as part of my role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the department. I then met with the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, Luke Hall MP, to discuss maintenance loans for university students. I wanted to highlight the that the loan that students are given for day-to-day life has not increased in over 10 years. This puts pressure on hard working families or pushes students to work long hours on top of their studies. We discussed access to resources on money management, debt counselling and living independently which I believe will help with how students budget and ultimately promote good mental and physical wellbeing. The Minister was very interested in my recent meeting with the Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, Professor Andy Long, and I passed over the insights from the university and how vital the maintenance loans are for students in our area. Once I had finished some office admin I drove back to Blyth and got home in the early hours of Thursday morning, ready for local election day.
On election day I supported local councillors in North Tyneside and of course went to the polling station to vote. The Conservative candidate for North East Mayor – Guy Renner Thompson was a strong candidate and placed a lot of time, energy and really hard work in to his campaign. I have worked alongside him many times within his role of Cabinet Member for Children and Young People for Northumberland County Council. Under his watch, 96.6% of Blyth Valley schools are now rated as being Outstanding or Good compared to 74.1% under the Labour. Ros Munro was the Conservative candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner and has been committed to crack down on crime in the North East.
Friday morning, I held a business breakfast at the Snowy Owl in Cramlington, local business people came together to network and listen to guest speaker Sir John Hall. It was a great event and I look forward to future meet ups. From here I visited Browns Bedrooms and Kitchens Ltd to meet with Managing Director Peter Brown. The business began in Peter’s garage in 1983 and is now looking to expand on its 300,000sqft site in Cramlington. Browns are the UK's leading manufacturer of made to measure doors and glass splashbacks for kitchens, bedrooms and bathroom furniture and employs around 70 local people. It was great to have a chat with Peter about some casework before having a tour of this remarkable factory. I was taken around the factory floor and saw the full process from creating the panels through to the delivery service which has 8 wagons and 10 sprinter vans. It was great to meet with Peter and the team, I always try to support our local businesses where I can. In the afternoon I met allotment owners and local councillors in Seaton Delaval to hear concerns about the proposed closure of the allotments. This is an ongoing issue, and I am working closely with all parties to find a reasonable solution.
It was disappointing to not gain the result I had hoped for in the mayoral and PCC elections in our area. Guy had worked so hard to build his campaign however I congratulate Kim McGuinness on her win, and I look forward to working with her to ensure the billions of pounds the Government have invested for the North-East devolution deal are put to good use. Likewise, I campaigned with Ros Munro for PCC, she is very passionate about the policing in our communities and would have been fantastic in the role. Congratulations to Susan Dungworth on her successful election as Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria. When we look at Local Elections. Northumberland did not have any Councillors up for election this year so there have been no changed for my constituents in Blyth Valley. However, as you will be aware the boundary change splits up our constituency of Blyth Valley into ‘Blyth and Ashington’ and ‘Cramlington and Killingworth’, with the majority of my current patch falling into Cramlington and Killingworth, which will be where I will be standing at the General Election. This new seat takes in areas of Newcastle and North Tyneside, who did in fact have local elections this year. In Newcastle the Conservatives have had their first Councillor elected in over 32 years! In North Tyneside the Conservatives have gained a number of new councillors. I was very glad to see Conservatives in Tyneside making historic gains this year.
On Saturday I had the pleasure to attend the annual end of season junior football presentation at The Grand Hotel in Gosforth. This was an evening to celebrate the teamwork, commitment and dedication of the players, parents, coaching staff and officials. Thank you to the Northumberland FA and Grassroots Football UK for their support in harnessing young people to flourish through football. A huge well done to all the award winners! Everyone looked very smart in their club ties, and I want to thank Ian Coates for inviting me along to be a part of the event.
Sunday, I had a meal with family and packed my bags ready for another busy week in Westminster. As always, should you wish to contact me please call 01670 338435 or email me at [email protected]
