GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.322. 

Westminster’s febrile mood shows no sign of abating - Angela Rayner, Peter Mandelson, now Starmer aide Paul Ovenden alongside the troubling defection of Danny Kruger to Reform. And that’s before President Trump arrives on Wednesday…less controversially I had a packed constituency day on Friday and a fantastic - if rainy  -  trip to the Surrey Hills Wood Fair in Cranleigh on Saturday.
 

WESTMINSTER WHISPERS
 

MANDELSON SACKED The departure of the Prince of Darkness from the Washington Embassy is bad news in all sorts of ways. Firstly it is a terrible look for the government and the PM who defended him in parliament even though he knew about the existence of highly compromising emails. Secondly Mandelson was actually doing a passably good job in Washington - negotiating lower tariffs on British exports than nearly anyone else has been able to achieve. But I don’t believe it will derail the state visit when President Trump arrives on Wednesday. Trump is coming as a guest of the King, not the government, and as I told Channel 4 last week, my experience of Trump’s last state visit was that he is a tremendous Royalist. Also, let’s be clear, there are much bigger issues at stake right now - namely US support for Ukraine and now Poland after the Russian drone attack - so let’s hope they talk about the big stuff and not the scandals. I explain here why Mandelson’s departure will be uncomfortable but not overshadow the visit to Andrew Marr on LBC and to Sarah Montague on the World at One. 
 

GOING NUCLEAR In the lead up to the state visit, the UK government announced plans for a “golden age of nuclear” in collaboration with the U.S., which includes new plants – including a micro modular plant – as well as massively speeding up the regulatory approval process. This is very welcome news - and about time. I was a big supported of nuclear as Chancellor but after approving Hinkley Point C was appalled to discover it will be the most expensive nuclear power station in the world. We really do need to learn to build infrastructure more quickly and cheaply.
 

BACK TO MID STAFFS? Last week the government announced new league tables for the NHS. On the face of it accountability is a good thing so what not to like? But I am concerned as I explain in the latest edition of the Patient Safety Watch newsletter. It was a slavish obsession with league table positions (whose criteria are decided by ministers) which led to Mid Staffs and many other care scandals which I ended up dealing with as Health Secretary. The NHS can be brilliant but at its worst it turns patients into numbers and that is always the danger when a manager’s job depends on hitting an operational target. If we want to raise standards in hospitals as we have in schools, we need less top-down micromanagement not more. 
 

LOCAL LIFE
 

SURREY HILLS WOOD FAIR Anyone who braved the rain had a brilliant time at the Surrey Hills Wood Fair in Cranleigh over the weekend. A hundred stalls, loads of kids activities and lovely woodcraft to buy. Rob Fairbanks of the Surrey Hills team showed me the new Corten-steel signs, created by Jack from JK Forges, Stark and Greensmith and the Surrey Youth Opportunities team. These will replace existing signs and mark our beautiful Surrey Hills National Landscape area which we hope will soon be extended - come on DEFRA! 

SHOOTING STAR CHASE It’s always a humbling experience to return to this amazing hospice which we are lucky to have in Artington. CEO Paul Farthing updated me on the incredible work the team is doing to support children with life-limiting conditions and their families through palliative care. What is amazing is that they have recently rolled out a bereavement support service across the whole of Surrey (and SW London) for any parent who has lost a child. I have long wanted the NHS to offer bereavement support for families suffering the indescribable agony of losing a child - and so it is wonderful to know that it is finally happening locally. If you would like to donate to this amazing cause here is the link:

CIL’LY SEASON CONTINUES The consequence of Labour doubling housing targets across Waverley and Guildford is more speculative planning applications submitted - we’ve seen an uptick in Ash, Tongham, Cranleigh and Alfold in recent months. That’s why we desperately need developer contributions like CIL and S106 collected to go towards vital infrastructure like roads, doctors surgeries and school places to be promptly spent. Instead Waverley is hoarding the infrastructure money - and earning £970,000 in interest annually as a result. Right now it is holding nearly £28m CIL, £11m of which is not even allocated. This is just wrong. I have raised with the Housing Minister (who agrees) and Sir James Cleverly, leading on this issue for the Conservatives.  Have a read of Cllr Jane Austin’s opinion piece in the Farnham Herald.
 

PROTECT OUR LAND Thanks to Bramley and Shalford residents who have been in touch over the weekend, rightly furious at witnessing a prospective National Landscape field on Unstead Lane paved over with tons of aggregate, hedge removed, new access carved and now with multiple caravans on site - all without planning permission. This is not the only case in recent months with a number of ongoing enforcement issues in Compton which are taking years to be dealt with. I am urgently raising these totally unacceptable breaches of planning law with the police and the CEO of Guildford Council. 
 

THE LISTENING PLACE Did you know that every 90 minutes, someone in the UK or Ireland dies by suicide and 1 in 4 of us has had suicidal thoughts. So may I introduce you to The Listening Place - a brilliant charity I support. They provide free regular, face-to-face support to people at risk of suicide. They have four branches in London and if we can find somewhere within walking distance of Godalming station are willing to open a branch locally. Check out their website - and if you know anywhere please let me know - [email protected] 
 

SURGERY CALLS My first call was to a Compton resident about the measures the UK takes to tackle corruption when it comes to issues such as money-laundering. Lots of progress has been made in recent years but she wanted to discuss what it would take for us to go further. I then spoke to a Cranleigh businessman about the impact of the government’s new employment rights bill on family businesses. He said that despite growing fast, the new laws will make him much more reluctant to hire. I will take up the issue with Peter Kyle, the new business secretary.
 

Thanks to the fantastic team fundraising at the Bridge event in Milford on Friday. Not only was it delicious but hopefully lots of raffle money raised for the Royal Surrey Cancer Centre..