A couple of weeks ago, when I was conducting media interviews about the pause, and safety refit, of Smart Motorways, I was asked repeatedly about the Prime Minister and potential lockdown breaches. I don’t enjoy commenting on events but I reflected that everyone should have been abiding by the laws, that we needed to know what had occurred and then make a judgment. I reflected that, until getting this information, we should consider the Prime Minister’s performance in the round rather than focus purely on the negatives.
The reason I dislike spouting forth is because I regard the role of a Member of Parliament to be a participant in the political process, not a commentator. I admit that this is perhaps old-fashioned but I hope it strikes a chord in a constituency like ours.
Every day I get at least one news journalist calling up and asking me to comment on the latest events or personalities or inviting me to air my views on lockdown parties when I don’t have the facts. My response is that I am focussed on policy matters or ideas and, boring as this may be to the headlines, it’s ultimately policy which impacts our lives and our country. It’s also what made me enter politics in the first place. When times are febrile, I’ve always tended to the view that hard work and putting your head down is the best route out. Here are a few things I’ve been working on this week.
Firstly, I tabled new legislation in the form of a Private Members’ Bill. My proposal is to stop organisations from charging consumers twice for the same transaction. This could be a penalty fine for not displaying a car parking season ticket correctly on the dashboard. It could be having to buy another train ticket when not carrying a printed ticket despite having evidence on you that you’ve paid for the journey and are on the correct train. I teamed up with the consumer organisation, Which?, for this bill. I hope that the Government will pick up the proposal and turn it to policy as they did previously, when I when I introduced a bill to ensure every High Street has at least one 24/7 free-to-use cash point machine.
A policy which has already been introduced is the requirement for NHS workers to have a COVID vaccine in order to remain in employment. This was a difficult decision but I voted for it, last December, because the vaccination reduced the transmission of the Delta variant by 60%. Given NHS workers treat those at risk, and the vaccine doesn’t fully protect against death, it felt a proportionate move. It is also consistent with the same requirement brought in earlier for social care workers. Now the Secretary of State has briefed that this decision may be under review. I’ve told him that I will be aghast if it is. Whilst Omicron has not been as serious, this policy was mooted before its introduction when none of us knew what would be around the corner. We still don’t. My desire not to see another lockdown drives my view that we have to be tougher on those who won’t get vaccinated when it’s safe to do so. I’m determined to oppose any slide in this policy.
Turning to transport, a policy solution is needed to avoid chaos on our area’s roads, and a shortage of goods, when the Port of Dover is not working. Last week, I brought the Transport Select Committee to Kent to examine some of the HGV issues. There are EU proposals to require HGV drivers to exit their cab and have biometric tests before entering the EU. At the moment, an HGV can get through border paperwork in less than two minutes. Another two minutes would lead to a 17-mile tailback into Kent. This will impact us in East Sussex. The Port is already experiencing delays even before these new rules are brought in later this year. It’s vital we negotiate with the EU to explain the chaos the rules will cause to Calais. We must push the Irish to influence change, given much of Ireland’s trade goes through Dover. In our Committee, we pressed the Minister to do more. We also pressed her to deliver better service facilities for our HGV drivers. We met many drivers at Thurrock and Medway who explained how dire the facilities are. It’s hard for operators to build more due to current planning rules. Another reason, in addition to the lopsided nature of our current housing development rules, why planning legislation is badly needed to deliver reform.
As I finish this article in Westminster on Thursday, there is still no sign of the inquiry report into lockdown breaches at No10. When it arrives, I can assure you I will review it and then make my thoughts known.
