Dear friends,
This May sees the very first elections to the new West Midlands Combined Authority. This is an exciting opportunity to set a direction for our region – and I’m delighted that so many of you have already pledged to vote for Andy Street, your Conservative candidate.
As the former boss of John Lewis and Chairman of the Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, Andy has the real-world experience and public service ethos needed to make the WMCA work for residents. The new mayor will have vital powers over not only housing and transport, but investment and jobs too.
Over the last couple of years I’ve been fighting to make sure that devolution works for Solihull, bringing powers down from Westminster without sapping powers from our town hall into Labour’s ‘Greater Birmingham’.
I have no doubt that a Labour mayor would always put Birmingham first, meaning fewer jobs and less investment in our community. So please give Andy Street all the support you can between now and May 4th.
Easter message
I’ve always found Easter to be a time to step back and reflect. Especially after last month’s horrifying attack on the Houses of Parliament, I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks at home in Solihull.
The attack on Westminster Bridge was a reminder of how easy it is to take things for granted when you live in a country like Britain, particularly the freedom to worship God and celebrate the true meaning of Easter.
Yet around the world people have to risk their lives just to serve in their parliament or worship in church – as we saw when more than 40 people were murdered by attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt at the weekend.
We’re very lucky to be protected by men and women like PC Keith Palmer, and should never allow ourselves to forget the risks they take to keep us safe.
I hope that as we set a new course for Britain after Brexit we maintain our commitment to fighting for freedom and Western values across the world.
German partners prepared for a constructive Brexit
A couple of weeks ago, Theresa May formally triggered Article 50 and began the process of taking Britain out of the European Union. This will be one of the biggest foreign policy challenges since 1945, and I know everybody on all sides wants to make a success of it.
A couple of weeks ago I and my colleagues on Parliament’s Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee visited Germany to see first-hand how our European partners are preparing for Brexit. We met amongst others German MPs, ministers in Angela Merkel’s Government, business leaders, and figures from Germany’s cutting-edge technology industry.
I’m pleased to report that, unlike some of the reports you may read in the newspapers, we found absolutely no desire to ‘punish’ Britain. Such talk remains confined to EU hardliners in Brussels.
This makes sense. Britain might be leaving the European Union but we’re not leaving Europe, and not only will we still be important trading partners but there are a huge range of issues, from security to climate change, where we and our neighbours will benefit from continued cooperation.
Fighting for fairer funding
The fight for a fairer funding deal has been one of my top priorities since I was elected – I’ve had meetings several ministers and spoken in the House of Commons about how our teachers and pupils were getting short-changed by Labour’s unfair system.
The Government have made some progress towards scrapping Labour’s unfair formula, but I’m going to make sure that the concerns of Solihull parents and teachers continue to be heard.
Recently I held a several surgeries for local head teachers, where we discussed both the proposed National Funding Formula and other pressures on their budgets. I’ve created a head teachers’ survey too, and am very grateful that they took the time to give me valuable feedback to take back to Westminster.
St Margaret’s pupils redecorate Olton Station
One of the surest signs of a strong local community is when obvious pride has been taken in its public buildings and spaces.
That’s why I was so pleased to join local residents, London Midland staff at Olton Station last week for the unveiling of their new décor. Artworks provided by pupils from St Margaret’s School are now on public display at the station, giving visitors and commuters a warm welcome to our town.
It was great to meet the young artists on the day, when they told me they were looking forward to a well-earned Easter holiday!