Last Friday I opened up my community office at the Orbital Shopping Park to host a ‘Great Get Together’. Inspired by our late colleague, Jo Cox, the event sought to bring people from across the town to celebrate the things that make us who we are. Over a cuppa, and a slice of cake (or two!) we talked about the things that bring us together as a community.
That sense of coming together was also at the centre of the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday.
Parliament is often a minefield of old traditions that seem out of place today, but one thing never changes – the buzz of excitement in Westminster when the Queen comes to formally open Parliament and sets out the Government’s plans for the future.
This Queen’s Speech set out our determination to work together to get the best Brexit deal for Swindon and the country. Our determination to work to together to make our country safer, fairer and more prosperous, and our determination to seize the opportunities of the future.
I’ve always said that it’s vital we listen to the concerns people have, and take decisive action. When the Prime Minister stood on the steps of Downing Street, she rightly said we need to create a society that works for everyone and we have to tackle the burning injustices that leave society more divided than united.
People don’t want the world from Government. They want Government to ensure the country is safe, the economy keeps growing, and where it’s what you know not who you know that matters.
So in this Queen’s Speech we’ve said that over the next two years we’ll; invest record amounts in our schools & the NHS; increase the amount you can earn before you pay any tax; cut energy bills; scrap rip-off tenancy fees and end the stigma attached to mental health. We’ll strengthen the protections for victims of domestic abuse; bring in breathing space for people in debt and rightly ensure that anyone affected by a major public incident like Hillsborough or Grenfell Tower will be properly represented in legal cases through a strong, independent public advocate.
These are the issues that residents raise with me every day and this Queen’s Speech is evidence that this Government is not only listening but acting.
Finally, I’d like to extend my condolences to all of those affected by the appalling attack in Finsbury Park. We woke to the news of another sickening incident where once again innocent people going about their daily lives were targeted by a perverse mind intent on death, destruction and division.
That this attack deliberately targeted the Muslim community in Finsbury Park, leaving a mosque after prayers in the Holy Month of Ramadan, only serves to remind us that there are some in all corners of society who wish to break our shared bonds of respect, tolerance and community. Yet instead of division and hatred, the community came together, united in grief but also united in one voice to say ‘We are not afraid. You will not win. We stand together’.
As Jo Cox reminded us, we have far in common than that which divides us. This week has shown us how important coming together as a community and coming together as a country really is, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure fellow local residents
