HearFromYourMP

Messages for this constituency

Westminster Report - November

Posted by Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, at 10:31, Mon 28 November 2011:

Since returning from Party conference in Manchester, life in Westminster has been as busy as ever; a string of debates, question times, votes, and committee meetings, thankfully broken up every Friday with a full day of meetings and appointments in the constituency.

Since we returned in October we completed the third readings of a number of bills, with the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill, the public bodies bill, which enables our bonfire of the quangos, and the much anticipated Localism Bill receiving their third readings. This month also say the Pensions Bill achieve royal assent.

Not everyone will agree with these bills, but reforming legal aid and bringing down it’s cost to the public purse, reducing the number of quangos and ensuring that state pensions are sustainable are vital parts of our plan to get the deficit down and put the public finances back in balance. That doesn’t mean that government has ignored public concerns though, and as a result we’ve made changes to the public bodies bill and introduced transitionary arrangements for those hardest hit by the increase in the state pension age.

Last month also saw Parliament debate a referendum on our place in the EU. Sadly I wasn’t called to speak, however the speech I would have given is on my blog at www.zahawi.com. In short I believe that it is right that the public have their say, but that now is neither the time, nor was the referendum as proposed the correct way.

The crisis in the Eurozone is both a danger and an opportunity for this country. There is no doubt that resolving it will require a paradigm shift in the structures of Europe, but in the meantime it is a drag on our economic recovery.

Inserting uncertainty into our relationship through a referendum, a relationship which represents 40% of our exports, would be damaging to UK jobs and prospects now. This is something we simply cannot afford and for this reason I voted against the motion in favour of delivering on our Manifesto pledge to renegotiate to return powers back to the UK.

Many will say this has been promised before, but never delivered, but never before have we been in such a situation. A situation that I know my ministerial colleagues will use to our best advantage.

Since returning I have also begun my work on a new joint committee of MPs and Lords which has been tasked by the Prime Minister to look at privacy and injunctions following the breaking of a number of super-injunctions last year. It’s early days, but we have already heard evidence from a number of legal academics and editors, including Ian Hislop of Private Eye, a publication that has seen more than it’s fair share of injunctions over the years.

Locally my schedule has continued to be diverse and rewarding with visits to local charities, businesses and schools. A real highlights was speaking with 6 of my Parliamentary colleagues at the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership conference, where 400 businesses came together to tackle the barriers to growth in our region. The Coventry and Warwickshire LEP is leading the way in the country, a real partnership of the private and public sector working for the good of the area, and I’m proud to have been involved since day one.

I also had a fantastic visit to Warwickshire College, where I learnt not only how to make a severed finger and how to do sports massage, but also that our policies on apprenticeships are trickling down and resulting in an increase in applications. Apprenticeship starts are up 69% on last year in our constituency, a fantastic achievement for all involved.

In the last month I’ve also visited two schools in Henley in Arden, the High school, where Head Teacher Paul Wright is grasping the freedom of Academy status with both hands and St Mary’s Primary where the new leadership team of Rachel Perry and Jacqui Le Maitre impressed me with their enthusiasm and what they have done already, just 9 weeks after taking over.

And of course I’ve continued to hold my surgeries, meeting people with real problems and issues and trying to get them resolved. Recently we’ve had some real successes in cutting through the bureaucracy and getting the results people need, something that always feels good.