25 November 2020
Public Sector Pay Freeze – MPs’ Pay

If we have to take tough decisions to freeze public sector pay to avoid a post-Covid economic crisis, that MUST apply to MPs as well.

That’s why I am delighted to join other Conservative MPs in the call to freeze this year’s 3% pay rise for MPs.

See the full letter below.

16 November 2020
Christmas Cards to Care Homes project

How we look after our elderly and vulnerable is a sign of the strength of our Norfolk community.

All of us as have some connection to our elderly senior citizens.

That’s why I am delighted to support the EDP and Norwich Evening News’ Christmas Cards to Care Homes project which aims to deliver every care home resident and staff member a handwritten Christmas card from a Norfolk primary school pupil – to bring some festive cheer in what has been a tough and often isolating year.

So far, over 1,500 Norfolk school children are signed up to the project.

Here in Mid Norfolk we have 47 Care Homes.

Thanks to the heroic work of our care home and community care staff and carers this summer our most vulnerable citizens were protected. Our carers are the unsung heroes of this crisis. Never has so much been owed by so many to so few.

16 November 2020
Nacoa #LunchtimeLives

Know any child damaged by alcoholism?

It’s surprising where we end up.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (Nacoa) is doing brilliant work dedicated to helping out children of alcoholics.

Thank you to Nacoa for inviting me to kick off Alcohol Awareness Week with an interview as part of their #LunchtimeLives campaign.

To listen again, please do visit Nacao’s Instagram page here

 

George being interviewed by #LunchtimeLives host and Nacoa Ambassador Josh Connolly.

12 November 2020
World Horse Welfare

It was an honour to chair World Horse Welfare’s annual conference for the second year in a row today.

With an extensive list of incredible speakers, including a brilliant address from HRH The Princess Royal on the need to rethink our relationship with horses as part of a horse-human partnership, the conference (titled ‘The horse-human partnership – what’s in it for the horses?’) was not to be missed.

As an animal lover and someone who has grown up around horses (as well as being the son of a Grand National winning jockey), I am a huge advocate for the work that World Horse Welfare do to help rescue, rehabilitate and rehome equines that have been neglected, abandoned or abused.

That’s why I continue to do all I can for a sector that brings so much social and economic benefit to our great country, especially our lovely part of the world here in Mid Norfolk.

To learn more and/or watch the conference back, please click the link to the World Horse Welfare website here

10 November 2020
Offshore Wind Infrastructure - Debate

“The argument for some form of offshore network system has been won.”

Success! Great to hear the Energy Minister, the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, formally confirm the Government’s support for the Offshore Ring Main campaign that Duncan Baker MP, Jerome Mayhew MP, James Cartlidge MP, the Rt Hon Thérѐse Coffey MP and I have been leading these past few years.

Speaking at the Adjournment Debate that our campaign group secured last Thursday, the Energy Minister’s comments represent a huge boost for our efforts – and the efforts of so many in our part of the world.

To learn more about the campaign, please read below.

To hear the Minister’s comments, please watch the clip below.

9 November 2020
Here to Help campaign

The coronavirus crisis has shown Norfolk’s traditional sense of community and neighbourliness is alive and well.

We will need that spirit again in these next few winter months.

That’s why I am delighted to be supporting the EDP and Norfolk County Council’s relaunch of their ‘Here to Help’ campaign.

Back in the spring, the campaign helped encourage dozens of people to help their community through the tough lockdown to come and I welcome the decision to re-energise it now as we enter the winter period.

To learn more about the campaign, please see the EDP article here

9 November 2020
Remembrance Sunday

A moment the whole nation stops to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms. Commemorating the fallen is a commitment to a better future.

It’s always an honour to lay a wreath of behalf of the people of Mid Norfolk.

Yesterday, the streets may not have been lined with people. But we will always remember.

5 November 2020
Mid Norfolk Railway – Heritage Lottery

We are so lucky to have the Mid Norfolk Railway here in our part of Nelson’s County. It is a real tourist asset and a source of joy for so many.

This year, Covid-19 and lockdown has been a major challenge for the MNR – and I valued the opportunity to catch up over Zoom back in the summer to learn more about the challenges they were facing, and subsequently feed in their views to Ministers and officials.

That’s why I was delighted to hear the recent news that the Railway is to receive a £190,000 grant from the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund. Administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Culture Recovery Fund looks to provide heritage assets with support to help them get through these incredibly difficult times.

The MNR will use over half of their share to fully restore a Mark 1 Corridor Coach. This is a crucial piece of work – seeing the coach join other coaches that the railway has recently restored and, as result, allow the Railway to run trains long enough to comply with Covid-19 social distancing regulations when lockdown ends again. The extra coach will also mean that the Railway can remain economically viable when open.

The rest of money will then be used to hire specialist machinery to allow some essential track maintenance work to be carried out in a way that ensures the railway’s staff and volunteers will be able to socially distance. Some IT equipment will also be purchased so that staff can continue to drive the Railway’s progress forward while working from home.

I am looking forward to visiting the MNR again when it is safe to do so.

4 November 2020
Covid

We can’t have our local NHS overwhelmed by Covid: why I’ll support the PM on a November Covid circuit break. The decision to impose another lockdown is not one to be taken lightly. I deeply share constituents concerns about the enormous social and economic damage of another lockdown: locally and nationally. Having sat down with Norfolk health leaders yesterday and studied the data in detail, it’s now clear though that this disease is on an autumn surge which threatens to overwhelm our NHS at its busiest time of the year, when it is also clearing a backlog of patients and operations from this spring. If we don’t act we risk the NHS being overwhelmed (sometime in December) and a massively damaging later and longer lockdown with all the economic and social misery that means.

(By 8th November, the number of patients in East of England beds with Covid is expected to exceed the number in beds at the start of the March 2020 lockdown. Of course, the situation is worsened by the additional increase in hospital admissions that typically occurs during the winter period. In Norfolk, the number of patients in hospital with Covid roughly doubled last week in comparison to the week before. Full details will be released by the NHS in the coming days)

We HAVE to act. So, after reviewing local data, I’ll vote for the 4 week circuit-breaker today.

BUT. With some important provisos to ensure that the cure isn’t worse than the disease:

· There is proper support for the freelance/self-employed

· There is a proper review on December 2 with another democratic vote

· Norfolk returns ASAP to LOCAL control

· With a clear framework for BALANCING the cost of Covid with the cost of lockdown

As you may have seen in the local media (my interview on BBC Radio Norfolk Breakfast today can be found: here), I have made clear that the Government MUST ensure a balance between the hardships caused by the disease and those caused by bankruptcy and economic hardship.

The best way to do that is by LOCAL LEADERSHIP: our local Norfolk Councils, NHS, public health and social care workers did an outstanding job this spring protecting the most vulnerable. No one is better equipped to make these difficult decisions than our local agencies and elected local councillors, accountable to local residents.

In the end there are no easy decisions. But we must get the balance right. Rest assured I will continue to speak for our area and work flat out to make sure your concerns are raised and heard at the highest levels and that Ministers make the commitments we need. To see the latest and most up to date Covid-19 guidelines and information, please visit the Government website page below: Government Guidance – New National Restrictions from 5 November: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

4 November 2020
Planning - National Consultations

As many constituents, businesses and local Parish Councils have contacted me about in recent weeks, the Government has recently held two important consultations – the ‘Changes to the Current Planning System’ and ‘Planning for the Future’ consultations.

Please see both of my submissions below.

Whilst the reforms proposed contain some good measures (primarily on design codes and trees, and the desire to look at speeding up the entire planning process as a whole), I fear the proposals in general are undeliverable and will in fact worsen the situation – failing to address the real problems with our current planning system and instead creating a host of new issues.

As you can see, in each submission, I have outlined in detail the problems I see with the proposals being put forward by the Government and, in my ‘Planning for the Future’ consultation submission, I have set out how I believe the current planning system should in fact be improved. 

Rest assured, as I have done with planning matters throughout my time as the MP for Mid Norfolk, I will continue to actively campaign on this matter – and fully intend continuing to speak in the House and lobbying Ministers hard to get the right outcome for our area. 

As ever, any and all feedback is appreciated.

Planning for the Future, Consultation Submission

Changes to the Current Planning System letter