In Westminster
The penultimate week before the summer recess saw proceedings in Westminster dominated by important statements and exchanges that occurred under the Points of Order process.
On Monday, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, made a Statement to the House informing us that Abu Qatada has finally been successfully deported to Jordan to face criminal proceedings. First and foremost, it is important to congratulate the Home Secretary for ensuring Abu Qatada is now out of our country. Such was the farcical nature of this case that I know many believed he may never be deported. It is a credit to the Home Secretary that she kept going and eventually found a way to put him on a plane for Jordan to determine his guilt or otherwise for crimes he has been charged with.
However, although this is unquestionably good news, it is also important to now reflect on why it has taken so long to remove Abu Qatada from our country. It cannot be correct that so much time and money has been expended and reform must now happen. In a week where some of our most notorious prisoners serving life sentences have also successfully argued that indefinite custody is a breach of their human rights, we have to ask ourselves if the justice system needs to change.
Michael Gove then made a statement to the House about the new National Curriculum. Overall, it is a good thing that we are to have a streamlined National curriculum that will give head teachers flexibility whilst driving up standards. On a personal level, I am pleased financial education is to be taught in schools, although I will be pushing to ensure this is as much about understanding the basics of business as it is personal finance. I was disappointed that emergency life saving skills are set not to be taught as I firmly believe every child should leave school knowing how to save a life. On this matter at least, the fight will go on!
On Wednesday, the House heard two points of order that are worth briefly commenting on. Points of Order usually follow any questions and statements before the House and they are a chance for MPs to ask the Speaker if the rules governing how things operate have been breached in some way. Normally, these are fairly uneventful proceedings, but Wednesday’s points of order saw Nigel Dodds MP “named” (which means the MP can no longer participate in any proceedings inside the House for the rest of the day) for suggesting a Minister was being deliberately dishonest. Before that incident, Paul Flynn MP raised a point of order about Prime Ministers Questions. Those who have been around the House for many years have indicated it was the noisiest Prime Ministers Questions there has been since the introduction of the TV cameras. We have one final session before the summer recess and it will be interesting to see what effect a very clear statement from the Speaker will have on the way proceedings take place.
Back Home
I arrived home earlier than usual this week so I could be present at the official opening of the new cadet centre in Newton Abbot by the Duke of Kent. The new centre is a great improvement on their previous facilities and it is already being well used. There is also the ability to for others to hire rooms out during the day, so this is a real resource for all our community. All those involved in its construction attended alongside local primary schools and representatives from the council. One of the highlights for me was the band, who I thought were excellent!
I also held a meeting with Teign Diving Centre to discuss the Emsstrom Wreck. The Emsstrom Wreck has found its home in Teignmouth where it was passing through en-route to be scrapped. Opening it up for diving enthusiasts would bring a significant number of additional tourists to Teignmouth and help give the local economy a boost. At the moment, an exclusion zone is in force around the wreck preventing diving. I am working alongside those in the industry to see if this can be lifted as quickly as possible so we can take advantage of the potential of this site for Teignmouth.
I also hosted a meeting with the mental health commissioning team for our Clinical Commissioning Group. They are currently consulting on the nature of the mental health services we need, so it gave me a good chance to raise many of the issues constituents have contacted me about. I discussed the availability of specialist services locally, the challenge of diagnosing mental health problems, the importance of building a better support network across Devon and the need to improve our dementia services.
I finished Friday by spending time in Woodland and Broadhempston talking to residents about local issues and concerns before heading off to The Union Inn, The Monks Retreat and Coppa Dollar for a chat with locals.