In The Patch
Regular readers of my column will know that I have been campaigning to attract additional investment into our uniquely beautiful coastal railway line. Since being elected as your Member of Parliament, I have led a debate on our railway line in Westminster Hall, quizzed the Prime Minister on the need for additional investment and invited the Secretary of State down to Dawlish so he could see it for himself. I have also met regularly with both Network Rail and First Great Western. As a result of our campaigning efforts, the Prime Minister has offered his commitment to the railway line in the House of Commons, Dawlish Station has a new footbridge and Newton Abbot Station has undergone improvement works.
The Secretary of State promised me when visiting Dawlish that he would ensure the money we need to improve the line would be forthcoming and I am absolutely delighted that an additional £30m has now been pledged by Network Rail. This money will help make our railway line more resilient against the threat of flooding, which means our train services should become more reliable through the winter months. This £30m investment is a clear statement that our line is here to stay. I will continue to work with all interested parties on this and I will also carry on fighting for better access to our stations, an additional ticket machine at Newton Abbot, more carriages to reduce overcrowding and more services stopping at all our stations.
I also made a trip to Plymouth to record the BBC Politics Show. The Politics Show is one of our flagship political programmes and its always nice to have the chance to discuss the issues of the day knowing you have a local audience watching. This week we were quizzed on proposals by Labour to introduce regional benefits, rural bus service provision and the badger cull.
In Westminster
Following the Whitsun Recess, Westminster is now back in full swing and we started proceedings on Monday with an important debate on the Energy Bill. The Energy Bill has taken more than two years to prepare and it successfully passed Third Reading with one of the largest majorities the Government has secured since 2010.
The core objectives of the Energy Bill are to introduce measures that will allow us to produce cleaner energy, guarantee supplies and keep the cost to customers down. It provides the certainty investors require for £110bn worth of infrastructure improvements to be made as coal fired power stations are retired. It supports all forms of low-carbon generation, including nuclear and renewable, and it makes provision for reforming the electricity market for purposes of encouraging low carbon electricity generation or ensuring security of supply. A new Office for Nuclear Regulation will be established and government pipe-line and storage systems will be improved.
Tim Yeo attempted to amend the Energy Bill by including a target to decarbonise the UK's electricity generation by 2030. I know many of you supported his amendment, which was eventually defeated by 290 votes to 267. I decided to vote against the amendment on the premise the Secretary of State has pledged to consider a decarbonisation target in 2016.
On Wednesday, the Labour Party tabled motions for debate relating to the proposed badger cull and A&E waiting times. As with the Energy Bill earlier in the week, I have been contacted by a number of constituents who are concerned about the badger cull. However, it is important to remember that what is being proposed are trials. An assessment will be made based on the results of these trails as to how we progress from here. Bovine TB is estimated to cost the economy around £500m. Around half of all instances of Bovine TB are in our region and the cost to our farmers is approximately £12,000 per outbreak. Something has to be done and I believe the Government is correct to say no option is off the table.
With respect to A&E waiting times, I personally believe it is important to state first and foremost how hard all our medical professionals work. Those who work in A&E are at the coal face of hospital medicine and they do a wonderful job in extremely difficult circumstances. It is always regrettable when the amount of time people have to wait goes up, but I do feel some of the rhetoric we heard in the debate was unnecessarily partisan when these are serious matters worthy of proper consideration.
Surgery Details
My next surgery is on Saturday 29th June at 10am in Newton Abbot (Courtenay Centre). Please phone 01626 368277 to book an appointment or to discuss an issue that cannot wait until my next surgery.