GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my South West Surrey update No.232.
With the parliamentary summer recess having begun, I thought I would make the most of the pause in House of Commons work and do a round up of the national developments over recent months as well as some crucial local developments – not least the good news about Gosden Common Pumping Station - Which I also summarised in my Herald column last week. I will be taking a break from the newsletter over the summer but will be back in September.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
CONFIDENCE IN UK ECONOMY The mood music around the UK economy has definitely changed in recent months with the Bank of England, the OBR, the OECD, and the IMF all upgrading forecasted economic growth — the latter even saying that we will grow faster than Germany this year. We have also seen private companies announcing large investments in the UK. As I wrote last week, a new company launched by the new Tata electric battery gigafactory will be built in the UK — creating about 19,000 jobs and investing £6 billion. We also have had great news from the tech sector as AI giant OpenAI announced that their first overseas office will be in the UK and Salesforce pledged $4 billion into AI innovation and growth in the UK over the next five years. The Mansion House Reforms I announced will also help our most innovative companies stay and grow in the UK by making it easier for them to raise capital from our strong financial services sector. Reminder to the declinists: we have grown faster than Japan, France, Italy, Spain and Germany since 2010 as well as reducing unemployment by one million.
NHS Our most treasured public service is - rightly - the NHS. I know I have written about this here before but the Long Term Workforce Plan announced at the end of last month really was one of my proudest moments as Chancellor having campaigned to train more doctors and nurses for many years in government and on the back benches. This doubles the doctors we train and increases nurse training by 90% - meaning 60,000 more doctors and 170,000 more nurses over the next 15 years.
INFLATION As mentioned last week, inflation has now fallen below 8%. That shows that we can bring inflation down (America is 3% and we need to be at least there) — but we do need to stick to the plan and support the Bank of England in what it needs to do. I know that this means many will be worried about their mortgage hikes but when inflation comes down so will mortgage rates and 90% of lenders have signed up to our Mortgage Charter. As I also wrote in The Times this week, it is welcome that many of our bigger companies are seeing their profits go up but they must also be doing what they can to help consumers— including making sure heightened interest rates are passed onto savers and lower food costs are reflected in supermarket prices.
NATWEST AND NIGEL FARAGE I have had several emails on this issue over the past month. As you will have seen, Dame Alison Rose has now taken the decision to resign as NatWest’s CEO. My colleague Andrew Griffith, who is City Minister at the Treasury, has also met banks to speak about the issue because in a free society we need to know that no one is ‘debanked’ for their political views. We also need to sort out the disproportionate discrimination against ‘politically exposed persons’ who can find it impossible to open a bank account and are on the case.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY
So far in 2023… I have met five groups of nearly 50 constituents each on tours to the House of Commons as well as 2 school groups; I reply to over 200 emails each week with the help of my team; this newsletter reaches well over 7,000 people; and I have met many more of you through door-knocking, surgeries, and constituency visits. Some of the highlights so far include…
ROYAL SURREY CANCER CAMPAIGN I received many very kind emails about my Daily Mail interview from the start of the week about why this is such a personal issue for me – thank you very much for all so many lovely words. It just underlines why I am so passionate about getting the Royal Surrey’s new Cancer Centre built. Talking of which, plans are being made for two future fundraisers… Please save the date for 20th October – a quiz & ploughman’s in Albury Village Hall. Then on 8th December in Farnham there will be a ‘positive festive note’ with the Royal Surrey choir and special guests. These will be two excellent events so be sure to keep them free!
GREEN SPACES We have made great progress with my Green Spaces Campaign, including a visit from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Thérèse Coffey, coming to South West Surrey to see for herself the amazing views of the Surrey Hills AONB. The consultation on the proposed extension to the AONB boundaries is now closed but received over 1,500 responses– an amazing number. Whilst we wait for their decision, I will be turning to trying to get National Park status which is the ultimate protection for our local countryside.
BRAMLEY FUEL Borehole drilling and testing both on and offsite from the petrol station continues in order to track the movement of any fuel in the ground. In addition, an oil collection boom has been placed in Bramley streams. The Environment Agency has offered to meet me once these tests have been completed and the data collated so I will continue to keep you posted.
GOSDEN COMMON PUMPING STATION On Tuesday we finally received some good news following the leak and months of work to fix blockages in the system. Thames Water carried out a storm simulation a fortnight ago at the pumping station and it seems the pump and sewer system coped with the excess throughout. The sewage tankers have therefore been stood down so this appears to be the end of this challenging issue for Gosden Common residents. Finally.
THE EDGE SPORTS CENTRE CLOSURE Our team continues to try to get Waverley to reverse its decision to close the Edge. Councillor Zoe Barker-Lomax is in touch with key stakeholders hopefully to get some kind of legal agreement in place so The Edge can operate in the short term. I have written to the Leader of Waverley Borough Council and very much hope Waverley reinstates their long lease on the site, especially given Waverley's huge dilapidations liability (perhaps £1-2m) is ultimately far more expensive for council tax payers than just keeping the centre open.
LOXLEY WELL Late last week we received the result of the judicial review, which was in favour of UK Oil and Gas (UKOG) regarding exploration at Dunsfold. This was disappointing news given that the site is adjacent to both existing AONB areas and further areas under consultation. As local MP I will continue to support my constituents in opposing this wholly inappropriate decision.
CROFT ROAD I noticed on Godalming Community Board that the road barriers on Croft Road have been missing for months, which really does not look great. I have raised the issue with Surrey County Council and will keep those on the Facebook group informed as soon as I hear back.
WRECCLESHAM BRIDGE WORKS The infamous bridge is currently having a makeover as some of you who use the road may have noticed. I'm told works started as planned on the 5th July and will be completed mid-September (Monday to Friday 20.00 to 05.00 to minimise disruption). The contractors are currently preparing the metallic surfaces under half road closures; hence no discernible difference will be seen at the moment. Hopefully in one of my first emails after summer recess I'll be able to include a link to a photo of a shiny, highly visible bridge which will help minimise the risk of HGV collisions.
JOIN ME Want to get more involved locally? Email me at [email protected] to join my growing team supporting our work in our community.
AND FINALLY… Having just seen these amazing finalists for the Comedy Pet Photo Awards, I have been wondering whether we have any good pictures of my own labrador Poppy to enter next year!
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