We’re doing all we can to help them fight back
We are now in prorogation – marking a brief period between the end of the parliamentary session and the state opening, which begins with the Queens Speech next Tuesday. Last week, I was sanctioned by the Kremlin, which the PM described as ‘a badge of honour’ for those MPs affected in PMQs. In reality, this won’t prevent me and my colleagues from standing up against the Kremlin and reflecting my constituents’ views on the abhorrent situation they have seen unfolding.
As Employment Minister, I’m helping Ukrainians resettle with a lot of hard work from my casework team on visas and Home Office engagement.
We’re doing all we can to make sure they can be supported as we, as a nation, back them in their fight to defend their sovereignty.
This week, the PM also addressed Ukraine’s Parliament via video link – the first world leader to do so. We are continuing to lead international efforts to support Ukraine, having announced a new £300million package of defensive military aid for Ukraine and send specialised civilian protection vehicles.
The Health and Care Act has received Royal Assent and is law. It’s the most significant piece of health legislation in a decade and will reduce bureaucracy, strengthen health and care integration plus boost accountability.
However, more will continue to be done to tackle deep-rooted challenges our health and care system faces, particularly following the impact of the pandemic.
Until May 6, South East Water is holding a key public consultation to refine their draft plan before its published this summer.
The plan has been directly influenced by their customers, employees and stakeholders through a series of online workshops and is aligned with our 25 Year Environment Plan. We urgently need more resilience in this area and I will be pushing hard for this.
I also wanted to say a big congratulations to everyone who run in the Mid Sussex Marathon. Sadly, I was unable to run this year due to injury, but I loved marshalling along with so many other brilliant volunteers – it was good to have many councillors and local athletics clubs, running tourists and charity fundraisers as part of the three events in our three towns.
It’s our London 2012 Mid Sussex legacy event which I founded over a decade ago with Pru Moore – it required blood and sweat just getting it off the ground!
The three-legged marathon, which has so many options to be part of, means we can push to grow it further. I’d also love to see this finale back in Burgess Hill town centre, if possible, to boost its visibility and have the bank holiday weekend’s closing ceremony on the bandstand.
Roll on 2023!