Having spent fifteen years helping small businesses get off the ground before coming to Parliament, and having previously served as a Business Minister on three separate occasions, I am a passionate supporter of Small Business. It is the true engine of our local, and national, economy.

That’s why I relished the chance to walk Watton High Street again with local councillors Claire Bowes and Tina Kiddell this past Friday. As ever, it was great to visit local shops such as Adcocks, Draper and Humphries Antiques and Edwards Newsagents to speak to business owners and staff.

The past few years have been particularly tough for so many of our local small businesses and so it was a valuable opportunity to speak directly with those on our high streets about the challenges and opportunities they currently face. Breckland Council, with their Future Breckland Plan initiative, are doing important work to support our market town high streets (see more here) and, from my regular conversations with ministers and officials, I am reassured that Government takes seriously the concerns of our high street retailers, as well as our SMEs more broadly.

Rest assured, I will continue to do all I can to support our local business community.

To find out more about my historic and ongoing work ‘Backing Local Business’, please visit my campaign page here.  

Decarbonising buildings, especially our homes, is a vitally important part of the UK’s journey towards Net Zero emissions. However, how that decarbonisation is delivered is equally important.

That’s why I have been taking such a keen interest in a case brought to my attention by a group of local Flagship Housing residents in Weasenham concerning the difficulties they had experienced as a result of the installation of ground source heat pumps in their homes.

Having convened and chaired a meeting with residents and Flagship in February (see more here), I welcomed the chance to meet with everyone again this past Friday for an update on the works Flagship are carrying out to try and rectify the problems encountered.

Joined again by Cllr Robert Hambidge (who has been following the case closely and providing support himself), we were able to identify what progress had been made and which outstanding matters still need to be rectified before Flasghip’s own deadline of the end of May. I am pleased that Flagship are taking the situation seriously – with Managing Director Adrian Barber himself attending, alongside key members of his team.

Rest assured, I will continue to work with Robert and local residents to help ensure these new heating systems are up and running properly as soon as possible – and that all of their concerns are resolved.

Medical research charities from Cancer Research UK to specialist charities like Cure Leukaemia, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the MND Association are jewels in the crown of UK Life Science and Accelerated Acccess.

That’s why I was proud to announce £50m HMG funding for 90 medical research charities yesterday – to fund revolutionary new medical research into diseases such as cancer, dementia and motor neurone disease.

Over 1,200 early career researchers are set to benefit from the funding, sustaining the future of the medical research industry here in the UK.

To find out more, please click here.

Brain cancer is a cruel, indiscriminate disease that takes people from us with too little chance of a proper diagnosis, treatment or cure.

Every year, 16,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour – with only 20% of those diagnosed surviving beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all other cancers. The disease also kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

That’s why finding a cure has long been a cause which I have supported – even more so since the passing of my childhood friend, Charlie, a few years ago. He was aged just 50 and in the prime of his life.

In Charlie’s memory, and in that of distinguished former member of the House Baroness Tessa Jowell, and so many others, I continue to actively campaign to help raise awareness and support the ongoing research efforts aimed at finally ridding our world of this terrible illness.

Today is 'Wear A Hat Day' 2023

Every year, I support the ‘Wear A Hat Day’ event, led by Brain Tumour Research UK, to raise awareness and help fundraise for the vital research required to help us better understand, diagnose and treat this awful disease.

I am proud to be doing so again in 2023.

You can show your support too by taking a picture of yourself wearing a hat and raising awareness by sharing it on social media with the hashtag #WearAHatDay

To learn more about Brain Tumour Research UK’s vitally important work, please visit their website here Donations can be made via their website by following the link here

To learn more about my historic work (as both a local MP and Minister) to support Brain Tumour Research UK and the battle against this disease, please visit my campaign page here

I truly believe that WE can ALL make a difference – and I remain firmly committed to working with Brain Tumour Research UK and partners to continue the fight on behalf of Charlie, Baroness Tessa Jowell and the thousands of others affected across the country, including many here in Mid Norfolk.

The Mid Norfolk Railway holds special importance to so many from our part of Norfolk, and beyond. It brings so much joy to so many, and we’re lucky to have such a wonderful, local tourist asset right here in our part of Norfolk.

That’s why I have always been a strong advocate of the MNR, visiting regularly over the years and doing my upmost to offer support, and why I am now taking the opportunity to highlight the ‘Back on Track’ Emergency Appeal being held as a result of track deterioration at the Crownthorpe bridge.

Having initially planned to reopen for 2023 on March 4th, a recent inspection revealed that the Crownthorpe bridge section of the railway line had deteriorated so much that is unusable. Despite the tireless work of MNR supporters and volunteers to provide significant investment in and improvement to the railway’s infrastructure, the reality is that, when the MNR began in the 1990s, it inherited a railway line that had not been maintained since the 1960s. As a result, even now, constant work is needed to keep the MNR ‘on track’.

The ’Back On Track’ Emergency Appeal aims to raise £95,000 that, when combined with the funds already raised by the MNR, will hopefully allow the railway to reopen on a staged basis from the summer.

Full details can be found on the MNR’s website here, including how donations can be made.

If YOU value this fantastic local asset, please do take the time to find out more about the campaign, as well as how you may be able to offer support – even if you cannot make a donation.

I am committed to offering what support I can to the MNR through this difficult period and very much hope to be able to see it fully reopened again as soon as possible – able to provide joy, education and entertainment for many generations to come.

To find out more about my historic work supporting the MNR, please do scroll through my past webstories on my ‘Upgrading the Norwich-Cambridge Railway Line’ campaign page here.

The Mid Norfolk Railway holds special importance to so many from our part of Norfolk, and beyond. It brings so much joy to so many, and we’re lucky to have such a wonderful, local tourist asset right here in our part of Norfolk.

That’s why I have always been a strong advocate of the MNR, visiting regularly over the years and doing my upmost to offer support, and why I am now taking the opportunity to highlight the ‘Back on Track’ Emergency Appeal being held as a result of track deterioration at the Crownthorpe bridge.

Having initially planned to reopen for 2023 on March 4th, a recent inspection revealed that the Crownthorpe bridge section of the railway line had deteriorated so much that is unusable. Despite the tireless work of MNR supporters and volunteers to provide significant investment in and improvement to the railway’s infrastructure, the reality is that, when the MNR began in the 1990s, it inherited a railway line that had not been maintained since the 1960s. As a result, even now, constant work is needed to keep the MNR ‘on track’.

The ’Back On Track’ Emergency Appeal aims to raise £95,000 that, when combined with the funds already raised by the MNR, will hopefully allow the railway to reopen on a staged basis from the summer.

Full details can be found on the MNR’s website here, including how donations can be made.

If YOU value this fantastic local asset, please do take the time to find out more about the campaign, as well as how you may be able to offer support – even if you cannot make a donation.

I am committed to offering what support I can to the MNR through this difficult period and very much hope to be able to see it fully reopened again as soon as possible – able to provide joy, education and entertainment for many generations to come.

To find out more about my historic work supporting the MNR, please do scroll through my past webstories on my ‘Upgrading the Norwich-Cambridge Railway Line’ campaign page here.

Anti-social behaviour is unacceptable. Too many law-abiding people live in fear of ASB and the criminality that comes with it.

Through my work supporting local constituents and liaising with local police here in Mid Norfolk, I know High Street and community ASB, vandalism, litter, graffiti, rural theft, animal crime and arson are just some of the ways in which ASB can make people feel unsafe and unhappy in their local areas, sowing distrust, anger and resentment among neighbours and within communities.

That’s why I am proud that the Government is cracking down on ASB, with the Prime Minister today setting out a tough zero-tolerance approach to deal with those responsible, including:

• BANS on Nitrous Oxide
• BIGGER FINES for litter, graffiti and fly-tipping – with the money going back into the local community
• MORE POWERS to stop drug use
• TOUGHER PUNISHMENTS for perpetrators – including forcing vandals to repair the damage they cause
• A NEW SIMPLE TOOL for the public to report ASB in their local area, receive updates and challenge decisions

Read the full action plan here.

I look forward to continuing my work with local police and councillors as we all look to tackle ASB in our part of the world.

Over recent days I have become aware of the case of Apostle Accounting, which appears to have affected a number of my Mid Norfolk constituents.

Having begun to look into the matter more closely, I am very concerned to hear the reports and would encourage all affected parties to contact the police to report their own experiences.

While, as an MP, I do not have the power to directly intervene in and resolve such cases (and am therefore limited in the action that I can take), I have undertaken to help affected constituents raise the matter with HMRC via the MP Hotline to see what more information and support can be provided in the meantime.

If YOU are a Mid Norfolk constituent who has been affected, please do get in touch to let me know.

In your correspondence, please set out details of your case, along with your full postal address (including a post code) and a line giving your consent for me to raise your correspondence with HMRC. I will then be able to follow up.