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** Monthly News from Neil O’Brien MP
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February 2026

Hello,

Welcome to the February edition of my e-newsletter.

Leicester land grab update: petition now submitted

The petition I launched just over a year ago, alongside fellow Leicestershire MPs Peter Bedford and Alicia Kearns, opposing the Leicester land grab has now received over 12,200 signatures.

That’s a huge number of people wanting to keep our local identity and saying no to overdevelopment and no to higher council tax. The City Mayor has submitted plans to Government to take over the whole of Harborough, Oadby & Wigston. I hope the Government realises the strength of feeling about this locally - nobody wants this. We’ve now submitted the petition to the Government and I will keep everyone updated when I find out more.

Wigston Menphys Nursery School threatened with closure

I recently visited Menphys Nursery School in Wigston, which is one of four specialist nurseries for children with SEND that are being considered for closure by Reform-led Leicestershire County Council.

I’ve had a number of emails from parents who are understandably extremely worried about what this could mean for their children.

The County Council is currently consulting on these proposals. They suggest commissioning SEND provision “in local communities”, but many parents are concerned this could see children placed in settings that are not properly equipped to meet their needs. I am also worried that kids may end up with no place at all, meaning parents are unable to work.

Menphys Nursery School is a fantastic specialist facility, with dedicated and highly skilled staff who give children the best possible start. Closing it would be a backwards step.

I have written to the Leader of Leicestershire County Council last week to raise these concerns. The council can choose to stop these plans now if it wanted to. In the meantime, do respond to the consultation which is open until 22nd February. The link is below. I will keep everyone updated when I hear back from the Leader.
Take part in the consultation ([link removed])

Update on my campaign to sort the dangerous A6 junctions in Kibworth

I’ve secured an on-site meeting in early February, alongside County Councillor Phil King, with senior decision-makers from Leicestershire County Council - including the Director of Transport and the Cabinet Member for Transport - so they can see the problems for themselves at Church Road and New Road.

The petition calling for action has now been signed by over 1,300 people. I’ll update everyone after the meeting.

Raising the age of consent for social media to 16

For several months now, I’ve been leading the case for raising the age of consent for social media to 16. On a national level, in my shadow ministerial role, I have been pushing for this to be adopted as an official Conservative Party policy, and as of this month I am delighted to say that it now has been.

I’ve heard directly from parents and schools locally who are genuinely worried about the impact social media is having on children - including online bullying, exposure to harmful content, anxiety, sleep problems, and the knock-on effects in the classroom.

Last year I took part in a “Tackling the Screendemic” event at Woodland Grange Primary School in Oadby (picture above), which was packed out. It showed just how strongly parents feel that something needs to change.

I have had hundreds of emails from parents locally asking me to back a ban for under-16s. It has been the single biggest issue people have contacted me about for months. I am planning another Screendemic event in Market Harborough in the spring, so watch this space.

Conservatives are campaigning for a ban on smartphones in schools but Starmer has been opposing it, despite clear evidence that children achieve more when we get phones out of class.

Progress on Market Harborough station tidy up
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Good progress following my meeting with Network Rail late last year about the run-down strips of land at Market Harborough station.

They’ve confirmed they’ll be meeting shortly with East Midlands Railway and Market Harborough in Bloom to look at landscaping the areas beside the platforms and how they can be maintained in future.

These areas are the first thing people see when they arrive in our town, so it’s right they’re properly looked after.

Q&A at Beauchamp College

Really lively Question Time event with students at Beauchamp College in Oadby last week. There was a real variety of questions - it was a lot of fun!

Keep in touch

As ever, you can follow the work I am doing on my Facebook page ([link removed]) . 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

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