MPs’ round-up
I’m looking out for you in Westminster At a time that is fraught with such uncertainty, I know that the disconnect between those charged with taking decisions and those who feel their effects can feel wider than ever. Over the last six months, my team and I have given 55 advice surgeries, replied to over 38,000 emails from constituents, supported over 500 businesses and processed around 200 cases a week from those in need – on everything from PPE shortages in care homes to businesses attempting to navigate a maze of government support schemes. But the last few weeks have also seen some critical debates in Parliament. So here is an update on what I’ve been doing to support people in our part of Somerset. n I spoke in two debates on Government support for the arts during the pandemic. My constituency houses some incredible businesses and freelance workers within the
Somerton & Frome MP David Warburton creative industries and it’s an area that’s too easily overlooked when economic support measures are being pondered. As a former composer and musician, I’m passionately committed to ensuring the arts community gets the support it needs, and though the £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund, the Job Support Scheme and the Self-Employed Support Scheme have provided a safety
net, I’m conscious that there are many for whom this has not been enough to ensure their businesses remain viable. Some key sites (including the Cheese and Grain in Frome) now have support in place, but there’s much more to do. n I spoke in a debate on the Internal Market Bill designed to ensure the UK is able to continue the free movement of goods within its borders – regardless of the outcome of our continuing negotiations with the EU. This is not only economically important, but constitutionally vital in ensuring all four parts of the UK can continue operating as one. n I’ve had innumerable conference calls with ministers and local authorities to ensure covid-related financial support from central government is reaching those in Somerton and Frome who need it most. n I’ve also been discussing the proposals for restructuring
local government in Somerset to ensure it’s better placed to deliver efficient and responsive services to the most vulnerable. The superb work of our local authorities in coping with the current crisis serves to remind us just how critical they, and the services they provide, really are. I’ve been keeping that question – how the delivery of public services to the most vulnerable can best be structured – at the forefront of my mind. n Only a couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to have the opportunity to take part in a Westminster Hall debate around rural productivity – especially important in a post-Covid recovery context. In that debate, I banged the drum for full dualling of the A303, ensuring our £5bn investment in rural broadband targets our hardestto-reach areas and ensuring that agriculture and food production is not forgotten.
Better ways of helping vulnerable kids Firstly, I’d like to welcome BVM back and thank Miranda and the editors for the invitation to contribute. Free School Meals for eligible children during the holidays have dominated the news recently. I voted with the government on its amendment to Labour’s proposition of extending Free School Meals during holidays up until Easter 2021: I’d like to explain why. The government’s amendment to the debating motion tabled by Labour which I backed included outlining what has already been done to support families affected by the pandemic. Overall, the package for supporting people is larger than those of comparable economies and Chancellor Rishi Sunak is widely credited with having 58
MP for South West Wiltshire Dr Andrew Murrison done a good job. This has included upping Universal Credit by £1,000 and distributing large sums to local authorities – including millions to Wiltshire Council – to make provision for vulnerable people. I’m pleased to
say this extends to the 8,000 vulnerable children identified in Wiltshire in the school holidays. Cutting through any partisan political opportunism, what I hope this debate now does is focus attention on better ways of helping vulnerable children whose life chances will have been damaged further by covid. That means so much more than ad hoc meal vouchers, a popular way of dealing with the short term though they may be. I’m thinking about things like lunch and breakfast clubs with catch up activities on the menu as well as food. The levelling up agenda means focusing on children left behind, now with every prospect of lagging behind further because of covid. It means attending to nutritional needs, of course, but also the education and skills that will
give them a chance to maximise their potential throughout life. Beyond school, it means looking afresh at further education and apprenticeships shamefully neglected in our modern obsession with poorly taught degrees in subjects of little relevance to working lives or the UK economy on which we all depend. I look forward to more news on a rebalancing of our education and skills priorities shortly. Maybe at last we will learn the lessons of economies that have been so very much more successful over the past couple of generations, notably Germany. If Marcus Rashford’s campaign has a lasting legacy, it may not just be about food. I hope it is in getting to the heart of inequality of opportunity in this country.
