GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.297
Witnessing the devastating wildfires in LA has been sobering and all our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have not had the happiest of new years but locally lots has been happening including the early results of my mobile coverage survey.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

BOND BLUES Rachel Reeves is currently learning an important lesson: the bond markets are totally impervious to political spin. Currently borrowing costs have risen to their highest level since the global financial crisis in 2008, partly because they expect interest rates to be higher in the US but partly also because of the budget which ramped up borrowing here by a massive £30 bn a year. When I was doing budgets one of the most important advisers was the Treasury’s Chief Economist, first someone called Claire Lombardelli (now Deputy Governor of the Bank of England) and then Sam Beckett. Both were excellent but had the terrifying job of advising me how markets would be likely to react. I wonder if Rachel Reeves had similar conversations. For the sake of all of us, she needs to come up with a growth strategy that makes sense - and that markets trust. 
 

MUSK VS STARMER Last week we also saw an escalation in the spat between Labour and Elon Musk – this time over the government’s refusal to hold another national inquiry into grooming gangs. Normally there would only be limited interest in the musings of a Californian tech billionaire but this is different: firstly he owns X (formerly Twitter) so in some ways is like a traditional media baron, the Rupert Murdoch of the age if you like. And secondly he has the ear of the man who will be President in a week’s time. Most Brits are unimpressed with what he has said but that doesn’t make it any less of a challenge for the PM, not least given it has dominated his first week back. In case you wanted to remember a time when he was more friendly to the UK government, here is a pic of him meeting a certain former Chancellor. 
 

THIRLWALL INQUIRY Last Thursday I travelled up to Liverpool to present evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry. I took the opportunity to put on record my apology to the families of Lucy Letby’s victims for any omissions on my watch as health secretary. It was a thoughtful exchange in which I discussed at length how difficult it is for the government and NHS to implement the literally hundreds of recommendations received from public inquiries, Royal Colleges and regulators. I was pretty conscientious about implementing the Francis Inquiry recommendations into Mid Staffs but even some of those took a long time including getting a second medical opinion about every hospital death which I only managed to push through when I was Chancellor.
 

AI SUPERPOWER Today the prime minister launched his plan to secure the UK’s position as a global leader in AI. They are good recommendations by someone called Matt Clifford who I have a lot of time for. The question is whether they are ever going to get implemented. They could transform public services - if the government is willing to take on the unions. And if we had them before the budget, maybe we would not have needed those damaging tax rises.

WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY 

THE RESULTS ARE IN! Thank you to over 1,500 of you who responded to my mobile phone signal survey (which is still live so please continue to fill it in as we crunch the numbers). The results confirm what we have suspected - over half of us think the reception outside our homes is POOR. It is particularly bad in Cranleigh and in many of our villages. But the data has also thrown up a few surprises and so armed with this vital information I am now reverting to the four main phone signal providers, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone so we get the upgrades we urgently need across the constituency. More details to follow in posts in the coming weeks, but for now here is the overall picture….

NO GAS IN GOMSHALL At possibly the coldest possible time of year hundreds of  Gomshall residents have no gas supply after a burst water main leaked into the gas network yesterday. All of the water must be removed from the network before SGN can turn the gas back on - hopefully later today. Shere division Councillor Bob Hughes is on the case locally and I am keeping a close eye on this - email me on [email protected] if you need assistance. 

ALFOLD SEWAGE IN FRONT GARDENS I caught up with Alfold residents last week with Cllr Kevin Deanus and Cllr Jane Austin. Absolutely shocking to see how locals have had to cope with raw sewage spewing up in their front gardens… and in some cases inside their homes. To add insult to injury Thames Water haven’t even cleaned up properly, with toilet roll (and worse) still visible. This is just not acceptable - as regular readers will know I’ve been onto Thames Water since I became an MP and will be asking CEO Chris Weston to urgently get on the case (again). The current Alfold sewage system is ancient and groaning following the addition of so many homes in the area. Upgrades needed urgently!

CRANLEIGH LOTTERY FUNDING SUCCESS Fantastic news last week of the £780,000 grant for Cranleigh Village Hospital. Amazing to think this was England’s first cottage hospital and an inspiration for the NHS.  The historic 1447 building will now be restored so it can be used by the local community as a hub for health, wellbeing, education and by community groups. Huge congratulations to Trevor, Howard and the entire team at Cranleigh Heritage Trust who have worked so hard to ensure this important building is recognised and will be preserved.

CLEAN ENERGY FROM AMMONIA Dunsfold Park which is home to one of the most innovative clean energy companies in the world. AFC Energy produces the world's most advanced ammonia to hydrogen converters. Ammonia is much easier to transport than hydrogen and with their machines to convert it into hydrogen overcomes the problem of distribution. Thanks to John, Mike and the team for inviting me and also for giving me an excuse to go and purvey the array of jumbo’s parked up on the airfield. 

BARLEY MOW REOPENING When The Barley Mow in The Sands closed last year 117 local investors clubbed together and raised the cash to buy it for the community. The pub reopened in October 2024 and is doing a roaring trade - what a fantastic local success story. Huge congrats to new Landlords Lee and Helen; the official reopening was jam-packed and gave me the opportunity to exercise my vocal chords (hence my frown!).

GUILDFORD TO GODALMING GREENWAY Work begins this week on upgrades to the Old Portsmouth Road A3100. Work includes widening the western footway for a shared footway/cycleway, a much needed new signal crossing near Tilthams Corner Road and road tables at the entrances to the Rugby Club and Broadwater Lake. Pain ahead with traffic lights between now and March - but the improvements will be well worth it for pedestrians and cyclists. For more detail take a look at Shalford Cllr Matt Furniss’ post.

PHYLIS TUCKWELL shops are an incredible success story with £3m of sales annually and extremely high quality merchandise. Good to catch up with CEO Sarah Church and her Godalming team on Friday - and thank them for the superb care the organisation provides to so many people locally.

BRAMLEY - YET MORE PAIN This time it's Scottish Gas Networks digging up the roundabout because they are (as a precaution following the fuel leak) double lining their pipework. Small quantities of methane have been detected in the area which are possibly natural. Three way traffic lights and major queues on the A281 - avoid if you possibly can! Thames Water is also threatening to put lights further up at Gosden Common but Cllr Jane Austin is already on the case to get these moved.
 

A3 CLOSURE Slightly outside Godalming and Ash but relevant, the A3 will be closed this coming weekend near Wisley for the installation of the first ever healthland bridge over the motorway to link Ockham to Wisley Commons as a wildlife corridor. The 3 year project to upgrade the Wisley interchange is due to be completed Summer 2025 …… and it can’t come a day too soon! 

DUST OFF YOUR DJ Never mind talk of Blue Monday....it's time to book your tickets for the first Friends of the Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre (CASIC) Gala Dinner Dance. Taking place on Friday March 28th at the Hogs Back Hotel, the event will include a live pianist, magician and dancing to swing band, 'Freddy and the Fedoras'. All proceeds will go to the campaign to raise funds for the new Centre at the Royal Surrey. They cost £80 each to include welcome fizz and a delicious 3-course meal. Don't miss out, get your tickets from: tickettailor.com/events/friendsofrschcasic/1507619

SURGERY My surgery call today was to an Ash resident about reforming the process of making a will. She has encountered what looks like deception in the writing of a relative's will and had some excellent suggestions about how to improve the system which I will raise with the Lord Chancellor. Let me know if you have had similar issues.

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 …. Humbling to watch LA firefighters battling the flames on the ground and see huge clouds of water and fire retardant being dropped by aircraft. 

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