I finished last week talking about the imminent budget that the chancellor was to deliver. I was pleased to see his proposed changes to beer duty and the continued commitment to investment in infrastructure. A particular piece of good news, in virtually his last statement, was the changes to the rate of taper for those on Universal Credit. This affects the amount of reduction in benefits when somebody works more hours and means they will keep more of any extra income they earn, for many this will make a significant difference.
As regards my week in parliament, I was in the Chamber of the House of Commons to listen to the chancellor and his budget speech and then later the same day the chancellor came and spoke to backbench Conservative MPs at the 1922 committee. Following the chancellor’s statement there is a three-day debate in the house on the statement. The first of these was last Thursday when the primary focus was about the impact on businesses. I was able to speak in this debate and reflect on the impact for people in the Sedgefield constituency. Having spoken on Thursday, I am not allowed to give a speech on Monday or Tuesday as the debate continues, however, I can intervene on other speakers if I wish to seek clarity or challenge what they have said.
I was also in the chamber on Thursday for what is known as the adjournment debate. This is a short debate where a member can raise something of particular importance to them. On Thursday, the member speaking was Matt Vickers, the MP for Stockton South, and he was raising hospital provision in North Tees, as this affects my constituents, particularly those who live in the village of Sedgefield, I joined Matt in the chamber.
When it comes to infrastructure one of the notable commitments to be confirmed, shortly after the chancellor’s statement, was a feasibility study into improvements in the railway line that goes from Darlington to Weardale. This stretch of line passes through both Heighington and Newton Aycliffe stations. My hope is that the changes to the line can also incorporate some redevelopment of the Locomotion pub at Heighington Station which, as we all know, is in a depressing state of disrepair. My colleague Richard Holden secured an adjournment debate on this on Monday. I mentioned the progress of the existing feasibility study for Ferryhill railway station and the parallels between the necessity of the existing bid for Ferryhill and the new bid for Weardale. They would both connect communities, ensuring that people can reach the centres of employment and that those centres can reach back into the countryside and leisure activities that go with that. I touched briefly on Ferryhill again and the connection to Newton Aycliffe, which had the munitions factory. Munitions in the war drove Ferryhill station, which was at that time the busiest station in Europe – bizarre, but it was. I would like to see that reconnection to history and the reconnection of our communities.
I was planning to speak in a Westminster Hall debate on 4 November about public access to AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) which I know David Sutton Lloyd, councillor for Aycliffe North and Middridge, has done so much work on, but my co-sponsor, Jim Shannon of the DUP, has tested positive so this debate has now been rescheduled to the 18th of November.
For the first two weeks of November the UK political attention is less on Westminster and more on Glasgow, as we are hosting COP26. COP stands for Conference of Parties and 26 is because it is the 26th meeting. The parties are the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty agreed in 1994 and has 197 parties, made up of 196 countries plus the EU. The big hope is to try to move forward the delivery of the Paris agreement signed in 2015 which rallied governments, businesses and organisations around a common goal – to limit global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees, with a view to 1.5 degrees. Although the agreement was signed in 2015, it is not finished, that is what the negotiations are for, closing off the outstanding elements of the Paris agreement to send an even stronger signal that the world is united and committed to reaching the 2 degrees, with a view to the 1.5 degrees, target. You can imagine, getting 197 different parties to sign off on the same agreement will be no mean feat, so I wish them all the luck in the world.
As I’m sure you’re aware we continue to see Covid cases at higher levels than we would like. However, the good news is that the severity of any impact is significantly lower than it was in the past. This is due to both the success of the vaccine and also the way our NHS has been able to improve treatments for those who are more badly affected. It goes without saying that the best way to keep the severity low, is for us all to have either our first jab, second jab or booster jab whatever stage you are at, but please engage with the programme and help all of us to have as healthy a winter as we can. Stay safe
Paul Howell
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield