The House of Commons rises for the summer recess today and the usual rush to get legislation agreed and policies announced has been more interesting than usual. Much of it has involved voting on amendments to Government bills put forward by the House of Lords. This included several to the Illegal Migration Bill. The Lords have had some success in recent months in making amendments but in this case the Opposition there was defeated which may signify that the Government has become more organised in the Lords. It may also suggest that the Lords have realised they are way off the majority of public opinion on this issue and that the Commons is the primary chamber. Either way this is good for democracy.
There are three by-elections today. Traditionally Governments have a tough time in these but the campaigns have also shown some weaknesses in the opposition parties. Labour have changed track dramatically and some MPs are now openly disagreeing with Keir Starmer. Jamie Driscoll, Labour Mayor of the North on Tyne, said in his resignation letter, “You’ve U-turned on so many promises: £28bn to tackle the climate emergency, free school meals, ending university tuition fees, reversing NHS privatisation; in fact, a list of broken promises too long to repeat in this letter.” Tony Blair also made an appearance wanting more use of private providers in the NHS.
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats are making unfunded and impractical promises in the confidence that they will not get to be held to them or have to think about how to deliver. To paraphrase Ed Davey, “people like our views on … etc".
Meanwhile I am getting on with the job of making Somerset a better place to live and work, with more opportunities. Whether by helping Tata and Jaguar Land Rover set up a game changing battery manufacturing site here in Somerset as was just announced yesterday, taking advantage of the infrastructure improvements we have led like the A358 and A303 dualling that will more directly connect us to the 4,000 plus new jobs available there, or by looking to expand professional training opportunities locally to meet local need for NHS appointments, I am happy to be nose to the grindstone getting things done with the people in the Government who can actually change things.
On that front it was superb to hear this week also that the development consent I have been pressing to get, for the dual carriageway A303 tunnel under Stonehenge, was this week granted by the Minister. I hope soon queues there will also be a thing of the past.
This week I also chaired a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Central Bank and Digital Currency. I continue to have concerns about people’s access to cash and their own assets being preserved. Central banks already have questionable levels of power over monetary and economic policy and we absolutely mustn't follow the Chinese model. It’s a good group of Parliamentarians and industry experts and I plan to engage with the Treasury forcefully on the basis of the evidence we have taken.