The UK is now the world's 4th biggest exporter, having overtaken Japan, France & the Netherlands in 2022. This proves how well the UK is performing outside the EU, as Kemi Badenoch MP explained in UK House of Commons. I'm delighted that trade with Morocco is performing especially strongly.
I was pleased to speak at the Committee stage of Vicky Ford Private Member's Bill on ensuring school attendance this morning. The new law will require local authorities to reduce absences and ensure schools themselves have an attendance policy.
Following my meeting with the Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell MP last week, today I repeated my call for more direct aid to Gaza.
This is continually raised with me by many residents, as well as local mosques, so I was pleased to get an encouraging response from the minister.
This evening in the House of Commons I presented a petition on behalf of residents of Buckland, who are rightly demanding that Thames Water site a water booster station away from cottages in the village. Hundreds of people have signed the petition to ask the company to change its mind.
Despite much Government progress to tackle plastic pollution, including a ban on micro beads, restricting the supply of plastics straws and single-use carrier bags in supermarkets, too much plastic waste still ends up in landfill or our oceans.
Local farmers are doing great work to produce the food we need. But as I've seen on recent visits to farms in Bucks, they also need to be able to diversify their income so they can earn a decent living.
This month the Lord Chancellor announced important measures to relieve pressure on prison places, including ensuring more foreign offenders are deported. He also spoke about plans to improve Probation - I asked him how this would cut crime.
Today is #WorldBookDay - an opportunity to inspire children to develop a love of books. I was delighted to join a celebration of reading earlier this week in the the House of Commons.
Good to meet Police and Crime Commissioners from The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners in the the House of Commons to discuss tackling serious violence and ensuring victims' voices are at the heart of the criminal justice system.
