Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article - 30th January

This week began with a lively Sunday evening full of Indian dancing and entertainment at the Swindon Punjabi Community Centre, where myself and Robert Buckland were invited to celebrate the festival of Saraswati Puja with Swindon’s Hindu community. 

It was a great event that pulled the whole community together in celebration of the goddess Saraswati; who represents  learning, wisdom, knowledge, fine arts, science and technology. All fields which suitably represent Swindon and the fact that we are a town that is powering forward.

This was certainly the case on Monday when I welcomed New College to Parliament to discuss their proposed £25 million school bid, which aims to provide a brand new secondary school for the Northern Sector in 2016. The school would be called the Great Western Academy, and would have a particular focus on business and IT, along with other traditional subjects. I am continuing to lead the bid in Parliament as we now make the case to the Department for Education. 

There was further positivity on Tuesday when I attended the launch of the brand new £15.5 million TNT ‘super-depot’ which is set to create 250 new local jobs at a new 10 acre site next to the South Marston Industrial Estate. This is yet another success story for Swindon as our town continues to power ahead with the largest economic growth in the South West. 

The 250 new jobs will be in addition to the 7,000+ new jobs which have been created in our town since 2010. It is also a success for Swindon Borough Council who have placed much emphasis on attracting new industries to create jobs and build new skills. This announcement comes on top of the new University Technical College, £119 million investment into projects from our local Enterprise Partnership, and a potential new secondary school. I am proud to see that Swindon is very much a town on the up.

It was then time for more sobering thoughts in Parliament as we marked the Holocaust Memorial Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In Swindon, there was a two minute silence at the Cenotaph as people gathered to remember all of those who died in the Nazi genocide. 

The events marked the increasing importance of reminding future generations about the dark history of the Nazi regime. By the time we remember 100 years since the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau, it is likely that there will no longer be any survivors left to tell their tales. That’s why it is our duty to continue to remember, and continue to honour those who died as well as those who survived, so that we can ensure that such horrors are never repeated.