Proud to see PM with President Zelensky
Iwas so proud to see our PM meet in person on the ground with President Zelensky over the weekend, further demonstrating the UK’s steadfast solidarity with Ukraine. He set out vital key new military and economic assistance of 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems, and a further $500million loan guarantee to Ukraine in addition to the £100million of military equipment announced last week.
As Employment Minister, I was particularly pleased to see the latest positive jobs figures this week, showing the number of people on payroll rose by another 35,000 – to an employment record of 29.6million – with the employment rate increasing and over 1.2million vacancies in the UK still to go for.
These latest stats confirm our Plan for Jobs is working. This week I was able to meet new, young journalists getting their first start through the DWP Kickstart program I am running – getting their first start on the employment ladder, among the 160,000 under 25s progressing through this important programme.
I also recently visited the Haywards Heath JCP to meet our local work coaches and the Gatwick Jobsfair as part of our Way to Work campaign.
Monday was World Parkinson’s
Day, and it was a real pleasure to attend a drop-in session recently in Westminster to hear from a number of people affected by the condition.
It was incredibly powerful to meet Sally, hear her Parkinson’s story and how they are raising awareness.
The challenges families face in accessing timely, high-quality Parkinson’s care demonstrate there is much we can all do to show our important support for people living with Parkinson’s and their families.
Meanwhile, April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, and it’s an important time to remind everyone to look out for changes in your bowel health and see your doctor promptly if symptoms do not go away.
To detect cases of bowel cancer early, everyone aged 60 to 74 who is registered with a GP and lives in England should automatically be sent a bowel cancer screening home test kit every 2 years.
If you’re 75 or over, you can ask for a kit every 2 years by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 60 60.
Finally, I was honoured to recently present my constituent, Barry Hunter from East Grinstead, with the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award.
This daily award recognises outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community and Barry certainly has, through his website, collecting photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland through a digital archive.
To be a part of this, please visit www. geograph.org.uk