Much has happened since I last wrote this column. But I am hopeful a new leader of the Conservative Party and therefore a new Prime Minister following Liz Truss’s resignation, will bring back the stability and certainty we all want to see. In the end there was only one candidate for that role, Rishi Sunak. Boris stood aside as did Penny Mordaunt. Whether either had the votes to compete we will never know. Rishi has my full support. Now we must all stand together.
The challenges facing the new Prime Minister are many. At home we have to find a way to successfully manage our economy, avoiding if at all possible, going into recession, judged to be when a country has more than two quarters negative growth. Growth matters. We can’t do more with less and the demands on the public purse have grown substantially following the financial support rightly provided during Covid and the support with energy bills. And of course, it’s not a public purse in the literal sense. It’s the money we all contribute through taxation.
The challenges facing the health service and the unmet social care need have to be addressed urgently. Doing more of the same or even just putting more money into the system won’t solve the problem. The problem is complex and requires a root and branch review and an honest discussion about what is and isn’t working. What could and should we do differently to deliver better and faster patient care and make working in health and care an attractive career choice? There has to be an answer.
The first duty of any government is to keep the nation safe. While its challenging at home, we face at the same time huge international pressures impacting our security and our economy. The most obvious threat has been and still is the unprovoked Russian attack on Ukraine. That was devastating for Ukrainians but impacted every single one of us used to living in a safe democratic freedom loving country. Russia cannot be allowed to win. As I write we face the threat of the Middle East being drawn into the war as Tehran is providing military drones to Russia. We are all suffering as a result as supply chains for food and energy are disrupted.
The world it seems is not such a benign place. China has through stealth and commerce bought economic and political control around the world as it invests in its so called “belt and road” strategy, providing infrastructure and financial loans to vulnerable countries. Chinese investment in this country is now under microscopic scrutiny, to ensure our security is not compromised through Chinese investment for example in our IT systems. Add to this the ongoing challenges of mitigating the impact of climate change and maximizing the Brexit opportunities and you have quite a challenge!
Business in the House continues with debates on the Energy Prices Bill which puts into law the subsidies for both domestic energy and commercial energy use. The Public Order Bill also finished its passage through the Commons, intending to give the police more powers to deal with protesters. Freedom of speech and the right to protest are sacrosanct – but there has to be a balance with the right of everyone else to go about their business. Wednesday saw a couple of feisty opposition day debates on the economy and fracking.
Locally housing and planning remain a big issue so I was pleased to meet with the housing minister Lee Rowley to make the case for change in the planning rules to enable councils to say yes to the housing we need and no to housing we do not! And finally on Friday I had a very good meeting with the Citizens Advice Bureau to talk about what needs to be done to improve the benefits system.
As ever if you would like a surgery appointment, please do call 01626 368277 or email annemarie.morris.mp@parliament.uk