"The last few weeks in Parliament have been pretty intense. The Prime Minister resigned and we’ve been conducting an extremely important leadership election in my party that has now been narrowed to the final two. I’m supporting fellow East Anglian MP, Liz Truss to become the next Prime Minister. I’ve known Liz for a long time and she’s my closest friend in politics but it’s not just for that reason that I’m backing her. Far from it. It’s because I know that she has already delivered for our country. Be that as Environment Secretary in introducing the bee and pollinator strategy, negotiating and signing free trade deals during her time in International trade or by standing up to Putin as Foreign Secretary. She also has a bold economic plan to cut taxes to reduce pressure on food and energy bills for families but also cutting taxes for businesses so we can get growth into our economy – as it’s growth that is going to help us increase the tax yields and ensure we can continue to deliver on our manifesto promises. Liz is the real deal. Trusted to lead and that’s why I’m backing her.
As well as being heavily involved in the leadership campaign, I’ve been diligently carrying out my duties as a constituency MP by chairing a meeting with the East of England Ambulance Service. The meeting took place at my invitation following the publication of the most recent response time statistics which were shockingly bad. In the past, I have called for the East of England Ambulance Service to be broken up so I’m glad this has been reflected on as the Chief Executive told us that they are moving to a county-based model or at least in line with the new integrated care service areas. This is a massive step forward but we need to get on with it for the benefit of patients. Historically we have seen resources concentrated in particular areas of the region to make the overall statistics look better but often at the expense of more rural communities. A county-based model will ensure greater transparency and will mean resources are spread more fairly, crucial for Suffolk residents. The reality is that our ambulance service has been underperforming for many years - and although we have seen many false dawns, I’m hopeful that this new way of working will have a real impact.
Last week the Secretary of State decided to grant permission for Sizewell C to be built with a significant number of conditions. Since then, I've spent time looking through the long report. The main question people understandably are asking is why the Secretary of State went against the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate, which surprised me too. I have written to the Secretary of State to seek a meeting to discuss this further and how he intends to ensure the conditions of the order will be fulfilled. This is critical after other significant projects, including windfarms, managed to change their conditions without any particular public involvement. While there is no formal appeal process against the decision made by the Secretary of State under the 2008 Act, I expect that applications will go to the High Court for a judicial review of the process.
Now Parliament has gone into recess, I look forward to spending much more time in Suffolk over the next couple of months – and hope to see you at one of the many fetes, fairs or festivals."