Parliament has come back with a bang, and I’ve been taking part in much of what has been going on since we returned.
My first contribution was to raise a question about spiking, having been supporting my constituent, Sharon Gaffka, as she campaigns to raise awareness and see the laws changed in this area. While people assume this is something just done to young women, she has over 1500 testimonies from people aged 14 – 65 and it must be stamped out.
The following day I had a PMQ, only the 5th time in my 3 years as an MP I have been chosen and the first time for Rishi Sunak. I chose to do it on social mobility, the theme of my pre-politics career running charities.
I know it isn’t seen as a particularly sexy topic but it’s very important for the country if we are not utilising the country’s talent. It isn’t something that Government or schools alone can fix – everyone, including those in employers and professions, have to play their part.
That afternoon, Labour called a debate on their proposal to charge VAT on private school fees. Having been to a comprehensive school that averaged a 21% GCSE pass rate in my years there (before they used to include English and Maths; it was probably a single digit pass rate with these subjects), I’m no great champion for private schools. But Labour’s proposal has some significant flaws and comes nowhere close to meeting the range of challenges we face in education.
The following day, I took part in another debate about Royal Mail, something I’ve raised repeatedly in the House of Commons. I’ve held my own debate on it, as well as holding several meetings with Royal Mail HQ. The debate wasn’t about delivery delays, although I did raise these – making clear again I don’t blame our postmen/postwomen for this – but about whether the company should be allowed to go to a 5-day delivery instead of a 6-day one at present. I had polled constituents about this on Facebook and most were happy with the change as long as the service was more reliable.
This week I’ve asked a question on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). While Oxfordshire County Council would have us believe the problems in SEND are all about funding, it’s not funding that means parents complain to me about emails not being answered or documents that come back with details about someone else’s child on them. I also took part in a debate about training doctors, once again raising the lack of GP provision that we have locally. You’ll be hearing more from me about all these topics as the year goes on.
