Another jam-packed week has finished, with pomp and circumstance the order of the day on Wednesday as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened Parliament for the 62nd time by reading out her new Conservative Government's programme for the coming year.
We are kicking off proceedings with the EU Referendum Bill & the Scotland Bill, both of which I have strong views upon. It is now looking like the Referendum Bill will go through OK thanks to a late Damaclean conversion by Harriet Harman of Labour. They will now support the bill, and once the Referendum starts they will support the "In" campaign.
If the deal, which our Prime Minister has started negotiations on this week, goes well, and the outcomes look like a trading relationship without the federalising & Napoleonic legal frameworks presently imposed on us, then I too will be supporting "In". However, if the Europeans really won't play ball to free us from their "one state" vision then I will be supporting "out". David Cameron has some challenging negotiations ahead of him, but I know him to be a man of considerable nerve & determination, so I watch with interest as he heads into that European jungle.
The Scotland Bill (which I was reading on the train home.... these documents are definitely a foreign language to those not trained as lawyers!) is so important to get right from the North East's perspective. I am all for Scotland getting more powers, but then they must also take more responsibility for their own finances. And if they decide to cut a tax such as Air Passenger Duty it is vital that our Chancellor can react quickly to vary English taxation so thar our regional airports are not negatively impacted.
I have met with the new Minister responsible for rolling out the new North Northumberland Enterprise Zone to discuss in detail how we make this happen quickly; the new Secretary of State for Communities to discuss my Social Housing Bond proposal, and discussed with the Chancellor & his team how we expedite A1 dualling progress and ongoing monitoring.
On Thursday I was invited onto ITV's Around The House with fellow new MPs Anna Turley (lab, Redcar) and Calum Kerr (SNP, Berwickshire) alongside old hand Tim Farron (Libdem, Westmoreland & Lonsdale). I reckon we were all quite nice to each other, but don't expect that to last - there are some enormous ideological differences between us. Politicians are definitely not all the same in this Parliament.
The link here: http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2015-05-28/new-mps-on-devolution-new-…
Next week:
DEFRA & broadband, my maiden speech, the annual Macmillan House of Commons tug of war (yes, I'm in the line up!) and a train strike on Thursday which will force me to fly home.
It seems no two weeks will ever be the same.
We are progressing our new offices but in the meantime you can always reach me on [email protected] or call my Chief of Staff Tom on 07791 565044.