Most MPs take the chance to go away for a few weeks to recharge their batteries during the Summer Recess, but it has been very busy for me, with a lot going on in the Yeovil constituency including lots of surgeries across our area, in addition to preparing for and getting to know and help out with our second daughter who was born at the end of July.
It is important for everyone not just MPs to take time with family during the summer if we can, as once schools go back and everyone’s timetable speeds up again, those last months of the year just flash by.
It was great to see Roads Minister Andrew Jones’ commitment to dualling the A303/A358 corridor and improving its safety on his visit to our area in the first week of August. It was his first visit to any road project since becoming a Minister, which shows it is his top priority. I will be following up with him and Highways England over the next few weeks to make sure that we learn any lessons and incorporate near term improvement strategies into the programming, to take account of the recent unfortunate spate of accidents, as well as getting through the planning and consultation processes as quickly as possible so we can get diggers on the ground.
Ministerial work does not stop during the Recess and I have continued to liaise with Government Ministers on rail, broadband, defence procurement, schools funding, local government funding and devolution, and new projects to get the most out of the major national infrastructure improvement that we are bringing to the South West - building on the groundwork laid in each of these areas over the past few months.
The news hasn’t really gone into the usual summer lull this year either. The migrant crisis in Calais and Kent has been very challenging, and with ongoing problems in the Middle East and North Africa as well as very high forecast population growth in those areas over the next decades, the EU’s ability to deal effectively and humanely with control of its borders will remain a major issue.
Closer to home the pressure on dairy prices has continued, and while some of our local farmers have decent arrangements with their milk buyers, those who fall outside of these are having a tough time, with bulk EU product no longer finding ready export markets in Russia and China. We should do what we can to buy local and buy British, and I am in close touch with Environment Secretary Liz Truss who has visited dairy farms in our area recently to discuss this very issue, to make sure we are doing what we can. The NFU web site has some useful information on how we can practically help with our buying habits.
I was sad this week to see that the Wells-Burr family from Chard are having to deal again with the memory of their loss, because the perpetrator of the crime against them, a Polish national, is to be allowed to serve out his sentence in Poland rather than the UK. I have spoken and written to the Justice Secretary about the family’s and my concerns on this, as it is more than understandable that they as victims want to see justice done. One difficulty is that a reciprocal balance has to be struck in justicial relations with our EU partners, so that we can bring our nationals home from involvement with foreign systems if need be.
Meanwhile the Labour party leadership contest rumbles on, with some deeply contrasting outcomes possible for the type of Opposition the Government will see over the next few years. It looks like the next session of Parliament which starts on 7th September could be quite lively.