GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my weekly update no.316 just over six years and going strong! Another extremely busy week finished off in Godalming, Cranleigh and Elstead and my social media return to…wait for it…TikTok.
WESTMINSTER WHISPERS
NHS NEW START? This week sees the publication of the government’s much trailed ‘10-year plan’ for the NHS. In anticipation of this, I wrote an article for the Sunday Times which you can read here if you are not a subscriber. I have tried to be balanced and genuinely wish Wes Streeting well. But if we are going to turn around the NHS, we need to learn from the transformation in state schools: fewer targets, more local autonomy and a relentless focus on quality of provision. Oh yes and don’t use up all that extra money on pay awards as I fear has been happening.
MIGRATION MADNESS I have always thought of myself as a ‘liberal’ on migration e.g. someone who recognises that the UK prospers by welcoming the brightest and best from around the world. But the social consensus for that will be ripped up unless we GRIP the issues around migration by a) stopping illegal migration and b) substantially reducing legal migration. The latter will only happen with substantial reform of the benefits system so those here re-enter the labour market, as I wrote for the Economist. There is a good discussion on this in the latest Daily T podcast where I discuss the issue with Camilla Tominey and an expert panel. My most controversial proposal: Sir Keir Starmer, as a seasoned human rights lawyer, should lead the charge to rewrite international law (the ECHR and 1951 convention) that is one of the root causes of the problem.
TO TURN OR NOT TO TURN We now know the answer when it comes to welfare (and winter fuel payments and grooming gangs and island of strangers speeches) which is this government is for turning. I was hoping that Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves would stay the course as I said on Good Morning Britain. My biggest worry is that tax rises are now all but inevitable - and that means we are more likely to get stuck in a doom loop of ever lower growth causing ever more pressure on public finances.
AND LOCALLY…
MOBILE PHONE MEETING WITH SHADOW MINISTER IN CRANLEIGH We need to fix the dire mobile phone reception in Cranleigh and surrounding villages so on Friday I met local leaders with Shadow Minister Alan Mak. Cranleigh Parish Council Chairman Marc Scully made a brilliant case for urgent intervention. He was backed up by Cranleigh BID manager Christine Martin and Martin Bamford of the Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce. Dr Mike Bundy explained that recently installed defibrillators are unable to be accessed because of the lack of reception to open them. Watch this video of team Cranleigh in action!
Cranleigh Parish Council Chairman Marc Scully - click on the image to view the clip
THE BIG THAMES WATER MEETING - PART 2 Back to Nov 2023 18,000 homes were without water for nearly a week so one of the things I discussed with Thames Water CEO Chris Weston was action taken to address power fluctuations. All sites (including Shalford) now have back-up generators and UPS’s (uninterrupted power supply) and 'power conditioning' in place to avoid any further power 'brown-outs' (the horrible phrase). Maintenance compliance since the outage has gone up from 60% to 95% and TW are now operating with a 24/7 shift team. Compensation will also be easier in the future. So overall, amidst many other problems, some progress in this area. Full update here.
ROYAL SURREY SNEEK PEEK A big highlight on Friday was to take a quick tour around the new Cancer and Innovation Centre. It is genuinely amazing how quickly the building is taking shape. Still more fundraising needed for the specialist equipment but at over £600k raised to date! When open next year the new centre will treat an additional 7,000 people each year. To make a contribution (however small) click here and to view touring the site vid click here. Separately a huge congratulations to CEO Louise Stead and the team for achieving outstanding for leadership by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
ELSTEAD BONFIRE FIELD Fabulous news in Elstead, where the Parish Council has just taken ownership of the hill that separates the two halves of the village so it will be safe for posterity. Thank you Pat Murphy for inviting me and Tim Watkins for your amazing generosity!
SCANDALOUS CIL Tomorrow night Waverley’s Executive will vote whether to progress a review of CIL victims cases. This sounds positive - but the review on the table has been resoundingly rejected by victims and by many Councillors - who all say it is too narrow in scope. Waverley is just not doing anything like enough. Long standing councillors describe their shame at Waverley’s lack of support for those traumatised by being hit by massive taxes and are calling for a broader review of CIL cases. And yet in the meantime Waverley is accruing literally millions CIL in interest alone and using it to keep the Council afloat. I wrote to Lib Dem leader Paul Follows in support of those hit and I have a meeting next week with the housing minister to raise my concerns.
CALLING ALL GYM BUNNIES - Did you know there is a brilliant new gym that has just opened in Albury? https://www.thealburygym.co.uk/ is housed in the most idyllic location on the Albury estate in a converted farm building. Launched by Surrey Hills resident, Mark Arnold, the intimate, friendly gym kindly invited me to take a look and meet the team last Friday….. so cue some embarrassing pics of me lifting weights!
SURGERY CALLS My first call was to a Shere resident about the way the right to buy scheme works for council tenants and her concern that her house has been overvalued by Guildford Borough Council. She is concerned this is happening all over the country partly because some councils are trying to put people off buying their houses so I will raise it with local government minister Matthew Pennycook. I then spoke to a Cranleigh resident about the way she was treated by the NHS and her professional regulator after a traumatic birth.
JOIN ME Want to get more involved with my brilliant election-winning team locally? Email me at [email protected] to help support our work in our community. If you would like more regular updates of my work locally and nationally, do follow me on Facebook, X (Twitter), Bluesky or Instagram(although email me rather than comment for a guaranteed reply.)
AND FINALLY - I enjoy being pretty active on social media and so I am branching out - after a 4 year hiatus I am back on Tiktok! Take a look at this vid of my Friday in the constituency. Give me a grilling by Laura Kuennsberg any day instead of this…
Back onto to TIktok - take a look!
