APRIL 2017 ISSUE 27
www.winchestertoday.co.uk
MAKE A SUCCESS OF THE RESULT Winchester’s MP calls for unity over Brexit By KEVIN GOVER News Editor kevin.gover@winchestertoday.co.uk
PERHAPS one of the most defining images of the last week is the one where Donald Tusk is pictured just after being handed that letter by Britain’s ambassador to the EU. The EU Council President watches as Sir Tim Barrow officially gets Article 50 rolling - then promptly walks off stage right: “That’s it then... you just don’t love us any more,” I imagined Mr Tusk thinking. This kind of scenario has not happened before, and I looked at the picture imagining Mr Tusk with a huge sense of emptiness. I wasn’t wrong: “There is no reason to pretend this is a happy day,” he later told reporters. “We already miss you.” Brexit affects us all, and there will be many questions now over the next two years on how Hampshire will fare on tourism, trade and industry. Winchester’s MP Steve Brine was on the front bench in the Commons on Wednesday as he heard what Theresa May had to say. Afterwards, he gave this comment on the day’s proceedings to Winchester Today: “As the Prime
Minister invokes Article 50 and formally commences the process for Britain exiting the European Union, it is our fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country. I was especially pleased to hear Mrs May say she is focused on the 48% every bit as much as the 52% because that’s how we will heal the wounds of a bitter referendum campaign that still rankles for some. “We all want to see a Britain that is stronger than it is today, that is fairer so that everyone has the chance to succeed. I want a nation that is safe and secure for my children and grandchildren and I want to live in a truly Global Britain that gets out and builds relationships with old friends and new allies around the world. Britain is leaving the old political structures of the EU, we are not leaving Europe. “I refuse to simply see people defined by the vote they cast last June and prefer to focus on our determination to make a success of the result. Now that the decision has been made to leave the
clearly written his speech before listening to what the Prime Minister had to say. It did not go down well in the House with his own MPs, let alone others.” As for the PM, she made it pretty clear in her speech to the Commons what was ahead:”Today the government acts on the democratic will of the British people. And it acts, too, on the clear and convincing position of this House. “A few minutes ago in Brussels, the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the EU handed a letter to the President of the European Council on my behalf, confirming the government’s decision to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The Article 50 process is now underway. And in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union. “This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger, fairer Britain – a country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home. That is our ambition and our opportunity. That is what this government is determined to do.”
Business in Hampshire EU, it is time to come together and every political party - locally as well as nationally - should remember that and stop trying to pull our society apart. “As for Jeremy Corbyn today, he had
ON YOUR MARKS!
Olympic medallist Iwan Thomas along with some of the children from St Bede Primary as the city council launched a new initiative at Abbotts Walk in Winchester, to encourage children outside. With the Mayor of Winchester and the children he officially unveiled the new wooden totem of Wonky the Woodpecker.
MARK Baulch is Business Development Director for the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. He told Winchester Today that he will be pushing the Government hard for the best deal: “Hampshire has a very diverse
Opera! Dulwich Opera broadens its horizons towards Winchester
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Run The Runway at Southampton! (Don’t worry, no planes involved...) page 5
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New Owner On Right Track? IN a stretch of 10 days leading up to the publication of this edition, one unexpected story affected the Stagecoach Group which operates South West Trains. The company says it’s disappointed that it has been unsuccessful in its bid for the new South Western rail franchise, which is due to commence in summer 2017. The Department for Transport has announced instead that First MTR South Western Trains Limited will run the SouthWestern franchise from Aug 2017. The Department says the new company “will provide better journeys” and will generate jobs and new skills. Stagecoach Group Chief Executive
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Bonkers! Cheriton Players help to get the village hall fundraiser going
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