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Monthly News from Neil O’Brien MP

April 2024

Hello,

Welcome to the April edition of my e-Newsletter.

Meeting with the Foreign Secretary

I recently met with the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, to discuss a range of international issues I have been working on.

We talked about the desperate situation in Gaza, and what the UK can do to get much more aid in and avert famine there. Even with allies it is difficult to bring the cycle of violence in the Middle East to an end, but I am glad that the government is pressing for and working towards an immediate end to the fighting, the return of hostages and progress in the peace talks.

I am arguing for us to do whatever it takes to get aid in, by ANY means necessary. We and our allies are getting some aid in, but we must bring about a step change in the supply of food if we are to avert starvation for innocent families and children. The government are working to open up a marine corridor and the Americans are now dropping aid from planes on the shoreline. I am horrified by the prospect of innocent families and children starving unless we can get more aid in.

We discussed other issues of importance. I have been raising issues to do with Sikh security following the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the attempted murder of a Sikh activist in the US. On a recent visit to Oadby Gurdwara I was struck by the level of concern these events have led to among Sikhs in the UK. The Foreign Secretary was completely across the detail and clearly shares my concerns. He has also been pressing the Indian government to speed up and accelerate the case of Jagtar Singh Johal.

We also discussed wider foreign policy issues. It is the third anniversary of me and a number of other MPs being sanctioned by the Chinese government and banned from entering China. We were sanctioned because we raised concerns about human rights and about Beijing’s aggressive behaviour towards its neighbours. Unfortunately, the behaviour of the Chinese regime has got no better. The Chinese government is now absurdly claiming part of Indian territory and has triggered a series of skirmishes on the border. This is just the latest in a long line of incidents in which they have tried to bully our friends and allies, while cracking down on human rights internally. We must stand with friends like India against aggression from Beijing.

My campaign for improved bus services

Many readers will be aware of my ongoing campaign to improve bus travel across the constituency. I was delighted to work with bus operators to help create a fully co-ordinated bus timetable between the X3 and X7 services that connect Market Harborough and Leicester, via Kibworth, Great Glen, and Oadby. However, I am still campaigning to deliver further improvements to local services, including:

• Re-introducing a Sunday service to Great Glen. Currently the X3 serves the village during the week and the X7 doesn’t come through the village at all. This means that there is no Sunday service. I am working with bus companies to address this.

• Addressing overcrowding at busy times. Residents have written to me saying that several services are full at busier times, such as the end of school days and rush hour. I am seeing what I can do to lobby for extra capacity at these times.

• Improving bus services around Wigston. I have been contacted by residents about bus reliability and recent timetable changes in Wigston, particularly the 49 service.

I have a further meeting with Arriva on Monday to raise these issues.

Ending the abuses committed by housing developers

Over the past few months, I have working on ending the abuses committed by housing developers. In particular, I am calling on the government to use the Leasehold Bill to end the creation of ‘Fleecehold’ estates, and go back to councils adopting and maintaining new estates. For too many people across Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (and across the whole country) they find themselves slapped with grossly unfair ‘service charges’ after moving into their newbuild house. Last month, 46 Conservative MPs co-signed my letter calling for an end to this practice.

Many residents also find that the developer doesn’t properly manage their new estates. This includes the residents of Meadow Hill in Wigston. Their estate has been plagued by problems of overflowing sewage, and the developer has failed to sort the problem out. After naming and shaming them in Parliament, I convened a meeting of residents in Meadow Hill with Severn Trent, the County Council, and the new regional manager for the developer. I feel like we are finally making some progress in sorting the issues, and we agreed further actions to happen following the meeting to fix this.

However, I am working to end these problems for ALL residents of newbuild estates.

Cracking down on antisocial behaviour at Wellington Place

Last month I visited Wellington Place in Market Harborough. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss reports of antisocial behaviour and what we can do about it. Police Commissioner Rupert Matthews joined me together with Cllrs Phil King and Blake Pain.

The police have more patrols coming through the estate now. However, we also discussed how to overcome the obstacles to get more CCTV in the places where there has been antisocial behaviour.

As with Meadow Hill above, we also discussed all the issues thrown up by the non-adoption of the estate. I saw first hand some of the issues including overflowing bins. I have written to the developer about all these issues.

Holi celebrations in Oadby

Lovely to be at Oadby and Wigston Hindu Community’s Holi Celebration in Ellis Park. The picture can't convey the delicious smell of incense, chai, and slightly burned coconut.

As well as Holi, we’ve recently had Easter, Eid al-Fitr, and this weekend many will be celebrating Vaisakhi. I send my best wishes to everyone who has been, or will be, celebrating these holidays.

Improving road safety at Little Bowden School

I recently visited Little Bowden Primary School. Following the good progress we had in resolving the dangerous parking situation at another local primary school, I was contacted by the headteacher of Little Bowden School who invited me to see the problem that his school was facing at the start and end of the school day.

The school in Little Bowden is located on Scotland Road where there are yellow zig-zag lines preventing drivers from parking on one side of the road. This means that cars park on the other side, which results in a dangerous situation. Anyone who knows that road will know there's a crossing point at this part of Scotland Road which links Queen Street to the School and the recreation ground beyond. It is a well-used crossing which links one end of Little Bowden to the other. The problem is that the parked cars completely obscure the view for drivers, which makes it unsafe for children crossing the road to get to the school.

The headteacher has witnessed several near misses where drivers have had to brake sharply when children have been crossing the road. This is a worrying situation, and I am very concerned that someone will get hurt.

This could be fixed if the council would paint lines on the other side of the road. At one stage, there were some lines there, but they have been worn away over time and are now virtually impossible to see. I have contacted the council who have agreed to act, and I am just waiting for further details from them.

Keep in touch

As ever, you can follow the work I am doing on my Facebook page.  Please do consider forwarding this to anyone living locally, and if I can be of any help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

With best wishes,

Neil O’Brien

Member of Parliament for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston