Julian Knight, newly elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Solihull, has made his maiden speech in the House of Commons. Julian marked out some of the other things that made Solihull special as a town, such as its thriving volunteers and the fact that it was the ‘best place to live’ in 2013. He attacked the disparity in funding between Solihull and Birmingham, praising the excellent schools in Solihull and Shirley, despite receiving £1,000 a year less than their counterparts in the city. Before becoming an MP, Julian had campaigned extensively on the issue of fairer funding for schools in Solihull.
Julian told Parliament of Solihull’s unique story as a town, how it began as a clearing in a forest some 1,000 years ago, and remains uniquely Urbs in Rure, a ‘growing town that can still feel small’. Julian explained that this uniqueness made Solihull prize its independence keenly, saying “As we face the challenging and exciting prospect of devolution, Solihull stands ready to play its part, happy to co-operate on big-ticket items such as infrastructure, potentially policing, transport and skills for our young people, but it does so as a strong independent town. I intend to be a strong voice for the town I represent.”
Julian also praised Solihull’s culture of business and enterprise, from the proposed expansion of Touchwood to the jobs provided by the Jaguar Land Rover plant. Light-heartedly, he noted that some wags in Birmingham joke that a “crèche” in Solihull is something that happens when two Land Rovers meet.
Finally, Julian also honoured tradition by thanking his predecessors: Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt, who held the seat from 2005 to 2015, and Conservative John Taylor.