This time of year always has something of a back to school feel about it but I hope many of you can enjoy the summer for a little longer. Parliament roughly follows the school terms but much like teachers we have a lot to do in the holidays.
In the last week, Conservative MPs such as me have been receiving another barrage of abuse on social media about storm sewage discharges in our rivers and coastlines. This dates back to October of last year when the Government was passing the Environment Act through Parliament in which we put in place the most comprehensive and dramatic plan in our history to reduce sewage emissions.
An unelected peer tabled an unworkable amendment to the Act that we had to reject, which basically said this had to happen completely, immediately, with no costed plan or idea of how it would work. Costings of replacing our entire Victorian sewage system - in which storm water and sewage line flows are not yet separated - vary but they seem to be in the ballpark of running another 2 or 3 NHSs for a couple of years. Banning any storm discharges to waterways immediately would not only expose tax payers rather than water companies to that liability, but lead to storm flooding discharges into people's homes and the streets.
Opposition parties knew the amendment was unworkable. Labour did nothing on the issue in their years in power, and Liberal Democrat activists might be vocal on social media but their party did nothing on it in the coalition Government and for years at South Somerset District Council has overegged planning where the infrastructure cannot cope.
The truth is that is that people's understandable desire for a clean environment is being exploited by the Opposition for political gain and I hope most people are sensible enough to see there is more to this issue than meets the eye.
In the meantime, the break in Parliamentary business has allowed me a good extended chance to talk with local people here about their businesses and other issues and it has been brilliant to have an uninterrupted time in South Somerset. Sadly sometimes opposition politicians don’t seem to understand the job of being an MP means being in Westminster most of the week.
It was great this week to visit SwissTulle south of Chard, which is a living piece of our industrial heritage in weaving, specialty textiles and engineering that has an excellent niche market position and provides steady work for the local area. I am keen to help them with skills development and innovation.
It was also a pleasure, this time in better weather, to catch up with Yeovil Rugby Club. They have done a great job renovating the clubhouse and I was really impressed with the commitment to being inclusive, for veterans and those less physically able. Also, the women’s teams are doing really well; wouldn’t it be great to match the Lionesses or go one better at the next World Cup?
Finally it might be good news for Frome that the new County Council is supporting bus routes there but I am asking why they won't support public transport around the Yeovil constituency too.