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GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.312
I am back now from half term - and very much feeling the Mum and Dad syndrome of utter exhaustion from full on childcare! Hope you had a good week and enjoyed the sunshine. Things are full on in Westminster as well with the new defence announcement from the government and record boat crossings. I also launched my new book Can we be great again? at the Hay Literary Festival.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
DEFENCE DREAMS Today the government published its strategic defence review. Of course it makes sense in a dangerous world to spend more on defence. But there were two glaring problems: firstly the authors of the review said it could only be funded by spending 3% of GDP on defence whilst the PM refused to commit to spending it. You can’t will the end without willing the means (see my furious comment on X and question to John Healey). And secondly the timing could not be worse: in three weeks we have the NATO summit. When I was Foreign Secretary I will never forget sitting round the table at the 2018 summit when Trump nearly pulled America out of NATO. We urgently need to set an example to prevent a repeat. It’s actually one of the themes in my book - the UK is Europe’s pre-eminent defence power. If we do the right thing others will follow, NATO will be secure and Europe will be safer. Come on Keir!
SMASHING RECORDS On Saturday, nearly 1200 people crossed the English channel in small boats. This brings the 2025 total to 14,812 – 42% higher than this time last year. The government has even conceded that the borders are out of control. What is the answer? The European Convention on Human Rights and 1951 Refugee Convention need to be ripped up and rewritten for a modern age. If only there was a Prime Minister with a background as a human rights lawyer who knew how to do it…
PATIENT SAFETY WATCH For those who missed it, in last fortnight’s edition of my NHS Newsletter, I look at the latest Saving babies’ lives report published by the Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit and the ballooning NHS clinical negligence bill, recently revealed to now be £58.2bn. We spend more compensating families for maternity errors (usually sadly a disabled child) than the total salary of every obstetrician and midwife in the NHS. Let’s hope reforming this makes it into Wes Streeting’s 10 year plan for the NHS due next month.
THAMES WATER FINES Last week Thames Water was fined a record £122.7m for its failure to protect the environment. I am afraid they are totally deserved - not least for paying shareholders unacceptable dividend whilst customers got lousy service. As Chancellor I said all fines should be used to clean up rivers through a new Water Restoration Fund but Rachel Reeves has frozen the initiative. We need it back so this money can be put to good use.
WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY
BRAMLEY WATER RESTRICTION ANNIVERSARY Last Friday marked one year since the start of the disruptive water restriction for 621 Bramley homes, schools and businesses caused by the major fuel leak. The village is recovering remarkably but the restriction was only one part of the havoc caused. Fast Forward to June 2025 and fuel and fuel vapour continues to be recovered from the ground, but frustratingly we still have no answers from the EA about a criminal investigation - so I have now arranged to meet the Chief Executive to find out why. In better news I had a good meeting with CEO of Openreach Clive Selley last week about improving digital infrastructure for Bramley; Openreach is now working on a new timetable for full roll-out of full fibre in the Bramley area. Take a look at my update post.
MOBILE RECEPTION UPDATE I also met with mobile provider EE, who confirmed they’ve been using the data from my survey to drive round the constituency testing current signal strength - with particular focus on Cranleigh High Street area. EE are planning to upgrade their existing 4G sites to 5G within the next few years which includes upgrades to masts across Godalming and Ash within the next financial year. Next: further meetings scheduled with Vodafone and O2 Virgin Media when we expect they will be confirming the exact details of upcoming investments in the area. Making progress… but still lots more still to do.
SHALFORD A281 CLOSURE Our thoughts go out to the owners of the house on the Street struck by an HGV last Thursday. Sadly, resulting structural concerns mean the A281 is completely closed for safety reasons until Friday 5th at least. The insurers, and local highways and Councils all work on the quickest solution. It’s hard work on the congested local roads in the meantime, but the general mood is one of good old fashioned British stoicism!
SURGERY CALLS My first call today was to a Shackleford resident about getting support for her son with complex needs. She believes that the very best solution is offered by the Simon Trust at Linden Farm in Alfold which is a totally amazing place. She wanted to know if Surrey could allocate Section 106 money to support building one. I then spoke to a Peaslake resident about what is happening in international aid policy given the recent cuts by the UK and other countries. He does amazing work in the aid field himself so we are going to write to David Lammy to make sure the government is aware before spending decisions are made.
MILFORD HOSPITAL I took the opportunity to drop in to the new Milford diagnostics centre (CDC) just as the heavens opened!. Milford Hospital will offer an additional 11,000 MRI and 9,500 CT scans per year and play a vital role in helping to identify cancer, heart disease and ensure potentially life-saving care sooner. So apologies for the ‘Rishi in the rain’ moment (see video below) but I am just so proud to see this up and running - thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. Next - we need to get the bus service reinstated - more on this to follow….
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