MPs’ Round-Up

MPs’ round-up Trust us to lead the way in vaccination programme

As Britain streaks ahead of its neighbours in rolling out its vaccine programme (with Somerset top of the vaccination leaderboard of every health authority in the entire country), the challenge here is turning to logistics rather than politics. But elsewhere, things are still at a rather earlier stage, with high incidences of vaccine scepticism. In France, for instance, we’ve seen, as of December last year, only 40% of the population expressing a willingness to take a covid19 vaccine. And even here in Britain (which, together with Denmark and Thailand has the highest rate of willingness in the world), there remains around 20% of the population who still view the prospect of receiving a vaccine with misgivings. And given that the vaccine offers the only route out of the social restrictions under which we’re currently chafing, it’s worth asking why that is. Some of that is down to an instinctive caution about the speed with which the vaccine has been developed. And those qualms are the most easily calmed by the success we’re seeing unfold every day – with 14 million now having had at least one jab and the R-rate halving every two weeks or so. But there is another type of mistrust which is more stubborn – an entrenched scepticism about the state and its motivations. And for me, that’s a consequence of the increasing conflation of differing political viewpoints and individual, personal morality. When we have a political discourse that consists (often) of each side questioning not merely the other side’s competence but often impugning their motives, this will obviously have a corrosive effect on public trust – an acid rain that effaces the distinctive characteristics of our democratic institutions. And not only does this corrode trust in the institutions upon which we’re now depending to save lives and hasten our return to the freedoms we take for granted, but threatens to compromise our resilience in the face of future crises. The price of freedom is (as Jefferson apparently said) constant vigilance. But it’s worth ensuring that cynicism isn’t mistaken for scrutiny and scepticism for intellectual sophistication.

Somerton & Frome MP David Warburton

Armed Forces Bill should address issues

The ship of state collects idiosyncrasies like a sailing ship collects barnacles. This week we dealt with one such, a bill with its origins in the 1688 Bill of Rights. The Armed Forces Bill gives the legal basis for a standing army in peacetime. Very important. But the Bill has become more than a basis for keeping a military over the years. Since 2006, we have debated and legislated on military matters within the scope of the Bill on a five-yearly basis. And, unlike most bills, this one receives scrutiny from an ad hoc select committee, rather than the normal public bill committee. I focused my contribution in the second reading debate on Monday on the military covenant (on which I wrote a book) and the Service Justice System (SJS). The military covenant is a ‘pledge to ensure the UK Armed Forces community is treated fairly’. My book about it called Tommy This an’ Tommy That was available at all good bookstores but sadly is now out of print a bit like Fly Fishing by JR Hartley. The 2011 bill introduced the principle of the covenant into law, and this one continues in that vein, placing duties on public services to ensure there is ‘no disadvantage’ accorded to service personnel and veterans. It does not aim to create rights, but instead reaffirms society’s responsibilities. The second main area covers SJS – military justice. As I said in my contribution, service people should not be dealt with any more or less harshly than civilians in relation to the criminal law, either as victims or perpetrators; otherwise the central ‘no disadvantage’ plank of the covenant is merely rhetorical. However, it is worrying that a rape victim’s assailant tried at court martial is significantly less likely to be convicted than if the case had been heard in a civilian court. This is at odds with ‘no disadvantage’. The committee overseeing the bill will doubtless discuss the best way forward on such matters – Judge Lyons’ SJS review recommended that serious criminal cases go to the civilian courts, but the MOD has pushed back. Lyons also recommended a Service Police Complaints Commissioner, which is in the Bill. This is aimed at creating an independent line of redress if a service person is dissatisfied with the outcome of a complaint. However, I wonder why we’re creating separate bodies when we already have one in the form of the Independent Office for Police Conduct that deals with county forces. It’s a good bill but it’ll be interesting to see what the scrutineers of the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee makes of it. We already know that the Opposition wants it to go further – but then Oppositions always have to find an angle.

MP for South West Wiltshire Dr Andrew Murrison

MPs’ round-up Farmers are crucial – especially now

As the days start to lengthen our farmers have turned, or are just about to turn, their energies to lambing and the cycle of growth and birth. We begin a new season with hope as the vaccine continues its impressive roll out and the data starts to move in the right direction. Roy Castle told us we needed dedication. Now I think we all need buckets of hope. Crops springing up, woodland flowers emerging and new life in our fields. I have a very clear memory of the General Election campaign of 2015. I was in my office in Blandford. A lady called and said she had received four leaflets from me all mentioning farming – ‘why?’ I suddenly had a fear that a rogue deliverer had inadvertently delivered in Bournemouth or Poole. I asked her where she lived and her reply was ‘Sturminster Newton’. She said: ‘We’re not a farming area around here’. We had an amicable conversation and whether she voted for me or not I have no way of telling. I have thousands of conversations and interactions with constituents so why should that one stick in my mind? We of course live in an agricultural area but her not thinking we did shocked me. I know, as your MP, the huge role our farmers play. We live in an area where the long-term future of farming is vital. Much of our landscape and views have been shaped and formed by man’s intervention on the land to produce our food and meld our environment. Much of today’s North Dorset could still be recognisable to Thomas Hardy’s characters solely because of farming. Talk to any farmer and they will describe themselves as custodians or guardians. ‘The land’ is in their DNA. Perhaps it is because it is all around us that we do not see it, just as my caller didn’t. But we must. Agriculture contributes more to the UK economy than the automotive sector. It is a significant employer and exporter. Our farming and food production standards are high and will continue to be so. I have championed them in the Commons, occasioning my first rebellion against a Three Line Whip. It is our standards and qualitythat make UK produce strongly performing exports. The recently enacted Agriculture Act (the first since 1947) has much to recommend it. Food production continues to be important and we have replaced the rather dead calculation of x acres = y subsidy to what you do with your x acres = y subsidy. The environmental contribution that farming makes can be substantial but it is true that it is a carbon generator. The NFU and many other lobby/pressure groups are making real strides in reducing carbon output. The deployment of AgriTech (using technology across all aspects of farming) is playing its part in a farmer’s life. Covid demonstrated fragility in some supply chains. It also demonstrated that while we could survive without a gym visit (not me obvs), a round of golf or a nail bar session (I plead the 5th) we cannot survive without food. Farmers and food producers rose to the occasion magnificently as they do day in an day out to keep quality food on our shelves. So, as we start to glimpse spring let us thank and salute farmers: food producers, environmental custodians, reformers, innovators but perhaps more importantly a key, respected and cherished element of our life here in North Dorset.

MP for North Dorset Simon Hoare

Pushing the right buttons for faster internet

My campaign on faster broadband for Dorset is of even greater importance at this time when so many of us are reliant on digital technology to work and learn from home. I’ve pushed digital minister Matt Warman on this in the House of Commons and had a number of meetings with him. I’m also working with Openreach to encourage Community Fibre Partnerships, where residents and local businesses combine forces in their area, with the help of Government voucher schemes, grants and local authority support. This has worked well in several areas so far and a new scheme opens in April. If you have poor internet connectivity in the Blackmore Vale area, as I know many of you do, you can use the Openreach Community Fibre generated through the Council Tax we pay; and yet there is still a need for further provision in certain areas. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) families I’ve met with tell me they experience a lack of specialist support and education close to home. Travelling outside Dorset to access this support not only makes their daily lives more challenging but considerably adds to the cost to taxpayers. I have raised this issue with Dorset Council and with Ministers and that’s why the purchase of the St Mary’s School site near Shaftesbury, set in 55 acres and with outstanding facilities, is such welcome news. Dorset Council has now opened a public consultation on its preferred option to transform this building for the benefit of SEND

MP for West Dorset Chris Loder

checker to identify whether you might benefit from this. For more details visit my website at www.chrisloder.co.uk/broadband The budget for social care for adults and children in the Dorset Council area was £172m in the last financial year – equivalent to nearly 70 percent of the revenue education across Dorset and we are all invited to complete a short survey on this; you will find more details on my website at www.chrisloder.co.uk/SEND Also on education, I took the opportunity last week, during my speech in the House of Commons on the Armed Forces Bill, to highlight the work of Kingston Maurward College; whose Military Preparation courses offer students confidence and competence as they set out on their military careers. I also paid tribute to our own Armed Forces here in Dorset, including The Rifles, and thanked the Royal Marines currently supporting the coronavirus effort at Dorset County Hospital. To hear my speech in full visit www. chrisloder.co.uk/armedforces