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Stephen Morgan MP is inviting constituents to his next Cuppa and Chat event on Saturday 31 January to provide a space to learn about and discuss mental health.
The coffee morning, taking place from 10:30am to 12 noon, will also be attended by a panel of representatives that will be sharing information and answering questions on this topic in an informal setting over light refreshments.
Attendees will have the opportunity to share their experiences, ideas and concerns for Mr Morgan to take back to Westminster.
The event, taking place following the Mental Health Bill 2025 receiving Royal Assent last month, will be in Fratton.
Attendees will be notified of the venue ahead of the event.
Constituents can sign up to attend the coffee morning here.
Commenting on the upcoming event, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Far too many people are still suffering in silence as they navigate their personal mental health alone.
“Severe detrimental impacts of recent circumstances, such as the Covid-19 Pandemic, have been felt nationwide and made open conversation more important than ever.
“If more people talk openly about mental health and suicide, spot the signs, listen without judgement, we can all make a difference.
“I am proud to be part of a Government taking decisive action to change how Britain discusses and addressed the mental health of its people.”
Since coming into office, the Labour Government has been taking action to modernise the support and perception of mental health.
The recently passed Mental Health Act 2025 is intended to ensure that everyone with serious mental illness is treated with dignity and respect throughout their treatment, alongside enhanced rights and support.
The post Stephen Morgan MP invites Portsmouth people to conversation on mental health appeared first on Stephen Morgan MP.
• Labour UK Government launches new Road Safety Strategy to cut deaths and serious injuries on our roads
• Ambitious plans include tougher enforcement, safer vehicles, and improved infrastructure
• The plan includes a 65% target reduction in people killed or seriously injured by 2035
Road users in Llanelli are set to benefit from the UK Labour Government’s new Great Britain Road Safety Strategy, the first plan in over a decade to make our roads safer for everyone.
Last year alone four people on average died every day on our roads, with thousands more seriously injured each year. These tragedies are preventable.
The new strategy sets out bold measures to tackle the root causes of road collisions, harness new technology, and ensure enforcement keeps pace with modern risks.
The proposed reforms will:
• Introduce tougher action on drink and drug driving, including consulting on lowering the drink-drive limit
• Mandate cutting-edge safety technologies in new vehicles
• Improve driver training and testing, including a proposed minimum learning period for learner drivers
• Establish a new Road Safety Investigation Branch to learn from collisions and prevent future harm
The strategy also commits to a 65% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on GB roads by 2035, and a 70% reduction for children, using a 2022–2024 baseline.
Dame Nia Griffith, Labour Member of Parliament for Llanelli, said:
“Making our roads safer and reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our highways remains of paramount importance in all of our communities.
These proposals are a landmark step forward that will save lives, protect vulnerable road users, and ensure the high standards of safety that local people expect.”
Labour UK Government Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, said:
“Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy that devastates families and communities. For too long, progress on road safety has stalled. This strategy marks a turning point.
“We are taking decisive action to make our roads safer for everyone, from new drivers taking their first lessons to older motorists wanting to maintain their independence. The measures we are announcing today will save thousands of lives over the coming decade.
The Road Safety Strategy sets out how the UK Government will deliver:
Supporting road users by:
• Consulting on a minimum learning period for learner drivers
• Introducing mandatory eyesight tests for drivers over 70
• Reforming motorcycle training and licensing
• Publishing national guidance on road safety education and a Lifelong Learning manual
Harnessing technology and innovation by:
• Mandating new vehicle safety technologies
• Establishing a Road Safety Investigation Branch
• Linking collision and healthcare data for better prevention
Ensuring infrastructure is safe by:
• Updating the Manual for Streets
• Supporting rural road safety pilots and PRIME trials for motorcyclists
• Investing £24 billion to maintain and improve roads
Robust enforcement by:
• Consulting on lowering drink-drive limits
• Introducing penalty points for not wearing seat belts
• Tackling illegal number plates and uninsured driving
• Launching a new Roads Policing Innovation Programme
The new Road Safety Strategy can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/695e2cff8832ab3a48513809/road-safety-strategy.pdf
Animals across Manchester Withington are to set to benefit from the Governments new Animal Welfare Strategy.
These generational reforms will end the cruel practice of puppy farming, where breeding dogs are kept in appalling conditions, often overbred, and denied proper care. These inhumane practices often result in puppies suffering from long-term health issues.
The Strategy further enhances protections for dogs and wildlife, building on new laws that put an end to puppy smuggling.
Farm animals in England and Wales will be better protected from dog attacks thanks to new Livestock Worrying laws. Tougher penalties and greater police powers will help relieve the emotional and financial strain these attacks place on farming communities.
Legislation, regulations and current practices need to be reformed as they have not kept pace with the latest evidence, and there have been instances of individuals taking advantage of loopholes.
The Animal Welfare Strategy, launched on Monday 22nd December by the Environment Secretary, will help fix this and deliver the most ambitious welfare reforms in a generation – in line with our manifesto promise.
Launching the strategy, the Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said:
“We’re a nation of animal lovers. This government is delivering the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation.” “We’ve already acted to improve zoo standards, end puppy smuggling and protect livestock from dog attacks. Now, we’re planning to ban caged hens, cruel snares, trail hunting, and curb low welfare dog breeding.”
The Animal Welfare Strategy sets out how the government will deliver:
Improved welfare for companion animals by:
Improved welfare for farmed animals by:
Protection for wild animals by:
The Animal Welfare Strategy builds on this government’s proven track record in delivering reforms for animals. This includes introducing new, world-leading standards for zoos earlier this year and supporting passage of the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 and the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill.
The government will work with interested parties to deliver the strategy by the end of 2030.
Road users across Portsmouth are set to benefit from the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, the first plan in over a decade to make our roads safer for everyone.
Last year alone four people on average died every day on England’s roads, with thousands more seriously injured each year. These tragedies are preventable. The new strategy sets out bold measures to tackle the root causes of road collisions, harness new technology, and ensure enforcement keeps pace with modern risks.
The reforms will:
The strategy also commits to a 65% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on GB roads by 2035, and a 70% reduction for children, using a 2022–2024 baseline.
Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, said: “Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy that devastates families and communities. For too long, progress on road safety has stalled. This strategy marks a turning point.
“We are taking decisive action to make our roads safer for everyone, from new drivers taking their first lessons to older motorists wanting to maintain their independence. The measures we are announcing today will save thousands of lives over the coming decade.”
Amanda Martin MP for Portsmouth North said: “I’m proud to welcome the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy – a landmark step that reflects the values of our community. These reforms will save lives, protect vulnerable road users, and ensure the high standards of safety that local people expect.”
The Road Safety Strategy sets out how the government will deliver:
Supporting road users by:
Harnessing technology and innovation by:
Ensuring infrastructure is safe by:
Robust enforcement by:
The government will work with local authorities, police, and industry to deliver these reforms by 2035.
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As your local constituency MP, I take seriously the responsibility of trying to represent everyone in Mid Norfolk and to report back on what I’m doing.
Each year I send an Annual Report to all those constituents who have emailed me.
You can read my Annual Report email here or pdf version here.
Wishing everyone across Mid Norfolk a peaceful and Happy Christmas.
Yours,
George.
Click here for full email report or download a pdf version using the blue arrow below.
I’m delighted to announce the winner of my 2025 Christmas Card Competition. Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the amazing young artists who entered. My team received so many brilliant entries, full of festive cheer, snowy scenes, and creative sparkle. I loved every single one of your entries, which brilliantly captured this year’s South London Winter Wonderland theme. It was incredibly hard to choose just one winner because you all did such a fantastic job!

Congratulations to Nico, age 9, from Corpus Christi Primary School, whose beautiful drawing of a festive South London scene was chosen as the winning design! Nico’s artwork is now proudly featured on the front of this year’s official Christmas card and will go out to thousands of people as my official e-card as well. Well done, Nico

I also want to give a special shout-out to Liam, Year 8, from Elms Academy, whose clever and colourful design was picked as the runner-up and is featured on the inside of this year’s card. You can now see all your entries proudly displayed below.
Thank you again to everyone who entered and made this year’s card competition the most magical yet! You can see all the entries below.










The post Announcing the Winners of My 2025 Christmas Card Competition appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
The closure of Banbury Museum would be a devastating blow for our town. I have created this petition to urge Cherwell District Council to find alternative funding, so the museum can continue to serve our community. Please see the petition below: https://www.change.org/p/save-banbury-museum-and-gallery-urge-cherwell-to-source-alternative-funding
The post Banbury Museum Petition appeared first on Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.
This Budget is about making fair choices for the British people.
We’re stabilising the economy and doubling down on driving growth.
We’re supporting our high streets and tackling the cost of living.
We’re building a stronger, fairer country – one where child poverty falls and living standards rise.
After years of decline, there is a lot of work to do. But this government is committed to making the right choices for our country.

The post Budget 2025: Reaction from Liz appeared first on Liz Kendall.
Local beauty businesses and students showcased their contribution at a special event in Westminster.
Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking, helped local beauty businesses “take over Parliament” to celebrate this year’s British Beauty Week. Hairdressers, nail salons and beauty academy students – all from Barking and Dagenham – were invited to Parliament by the MP for a special reception and tour.
British Beauty Week is promoted by the British Beauty Council every year to celebrate the contribution of beauty businesses to our economy and high streets.
The theme of this year’s Beauty Week is the future of beauty, highlighting the industry’s innovation and sustainability. The UK beauty industry contributes over £31 billion to the economy each year and supports more than 85,000 jobs in London.

Commenting on the takeover, Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking said: “I invited local beauty businesses and students to takeover Parliament to celebrate their contribution, let them know how important they are for our community, and how much this government values them.
“They employ hundreds of local people, bring life to our high streets, and help people feel great every day. They are vital for our local economy, and today’s takeover proved the future of beauty is undoubtedly in Barking and Dagenham.”
Victoria Brownlie, Chief of Policy & Sustainability at the British Beauty Council, who was at the event, said: “The hair and beauty industry provides so much to so many and events like this help those working in the industry to feel seen, recognised and appreciated, just as they deserve to. Their social, cultural and economic contribution cements them as serious businesses, not just fluffy stuff that girls do, and we’re so grateful to Nesil for shining a light on this during British Beauty Week.”

Erica Brobbey, from Empress Hair and Beauty, a business in Barking, said: “It was an honour to join fellow beauty professionals in Parliament and proudly represent Barking and Dagenham’s thriving beauty community. Meeting other business owners and speaking with Victoria from the British Beauty Council was truly inspiring. The event highlighted the real impact our industry has, not just economically, but in the confidence and wellbeing it brings to people every day.
“I’m proud to be part of a community that continues to empower others and contribute so positively to the local economy. Events like this show that the future of beauty is bright, and it’s happening right here in Barking and Dagenham.”
Sure Start was life-changing for so many people in Bassetlaw, transforming the lives of children by putting in place family support in the earliest years of life. Sure Start, introduced by the last Labour government, helped level the playing field for children from lower income families, with research showing that children who attended a Sure Start centre were much more likely to perform better at school.
The previous Government cut community services, scrapping Sure Start, leaving a gaping hole in family services. When they left government, one in four families with children under five couldn’t access local children’s centres, rising to one in three lower income families. Speaking to local families in Bassetlaw, I hear time and again an ask for more support around SEND, youth services, and early development.
I welcome the news that the Government are building on the proud legacy of Sure Start, and reviving family services by rolling out 1,000 ‘Best Start Family Hubs’ by April 2026, including here in Bassetlaw.
Best Start Family Hubs will be a one stop shop for parents needing support, including on difficulty breastfeeding, housing issues or children’s early development, and other services such as:
The post Giving Children in Bassetlaw the Best Start in Life appeared first on Jo White MP.
It was great to call into Neighbourhood Watch in Pelsall again and catch up with Edwin and Andrew.
We discussed a range of local issues across the Rushall, Shelfield, Pelsall, and Brownhills Neighbourhood Watch area. Our focus was on how we can work together as one community to address these challenges.
It was also fantastic to hear about Project Phoenix – a pilot community-run initiative launched by Walsall Council! This project is dedicated to building a stronger community right across our Borough, and I’m really keen to see the positive impact it will have.
An abridged version of this article ran in The Times on 3rd February 2025
In 2007, in the pages of this newspaper, I argued that Britain should seize the moment and move Heathrow to the Thames Estuary, freeing up the congested west London site for much-needed housing while creating a world-leading transport hub fit for the 21st century. It was an ambitious plan—perhaps too ambitious for a nation that has lost its appetite for grand infrastructure. Seventeen years later, what do we have? The same tired debates, the same dithering, and now, a third runway proposal that represents the absolute minimum of what could be done. It is not a vision; it is a concession to stagnation.
Throughout history, Britain built infrastructure that transformed cities and continents. The Victorians laid thousands of miles of railways across India and Africa. British engineers built the world’s first underground railway in London, the great docks of Hong Kong, and the vast shipping hubs that made global trade possible. Ours was once a nation that saw scale and complexity as challenges to be overcome, not reasons to prevaricate. Today, while China constructs floating airports in Hong Kong and Dalian, we are still arguing over a few extra miles of tarmac at an aging airport hemmed in by suburban sprawl.
The case for expanding Heathrow is undeniable. The airport operates at near capacity, with any disruption causing delays that ripple across the global aviation network. Additional capacity is needed. But the third runway is not a bold leap forward—it is an unimaginative compromise. The design is a relic of a bygone era when Britain was still willing to approve large infrastructure projects but had already begun its slow descent into cautious incrementalism. Surely for a solution we should be looking beyond the immediate horizon, daring to create something transformative.
Compare this to the grand infrastructure ambitions of Asia. Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok, which replaced the legendary but perilous Kai Tak airport in the 1990s, was built on reclaimed land. It was a marvel of engineering (mostly British), completed in just six years. Now, China is taking the concept even further: Dalian is constructing a floating airport, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This is a country that doesn’t simply accept geographic limitations—it overcomes them. Britain, meanwhile, is paralysed by protest groups, endless consultations, and political hand-wringing.
A floating airport in the Thames Estuary—an idea proposed and swiftly dismissed—would have been a statement of ambition. London could have had its own Chek Lap Kok, a world-class hub unencumbered by the constraints of Heathrow’s location. Instead, we are left with a piecemeal expansion of an outdated site, in a project that will take decades and still leave Britain trailing behind.
The environmental argument against expansion is often cited as a reason for delay, but it is a red herring. Modern aviation is rapidly advancing towards lower emissions and greater efficiency. If the concern is air pollution and carbon footprints, the answer is not to stifle airport expansion but to embrace new technology, support cleaner aviation fuels, and invest in modern air traffic management. Britain should be leading these efforts, not using environmental concerns as an excuse for stagnation.
The economic cost of our hesitation is immense. Aviation is a key driver of trade, tourism, and investment. Heathrow’s constraints mean we lose out to European rivals, with airlines shifting long-haul routes to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. The third runway, even if built, will do little to reclaim lost ground. By the time it is operational—assuming it even survives the judicial challenges that will inevitably come—other nations will have long since surpassed us.
What Britain needs is a fundamental shift in mindset. We must stop viewing major infrastructure projects as necessary evils to be endured and start treating them as national priorities. This requires reforming our planning laws, streamlining approval processes, and fostering a political culture that celebrates engineering excellence rather than recoiling from it.
The third runway at Heathrow is not the answer—it is a symptom of our decline. Instead of an afterthought tacked onto an aging airport, we should be considering radical alternatives: offshore airports, high-speed rail integration to regional hubs, and a renewed commitment to infrastructure that places Britain at the forefront of global connectivity. We were once a nation that built the world’s most advanced transport networks, that pioneered engineering breakthroughs others only dreamed of. We can be that nation again—but only if we stop settling for mediocrity and start daring to think bigger.
The world is not waiting for Britain to catch up. While we squabble over a single new runway, China is building entire new airports on water. The contrast is stark, and the lesson is clear: boldness breeds success, hesitation ensures decline. If Britain truly wishes to remain a global player, we must abandon the timid incrementalism of the third runway and embrace the kind of audacity that once made us great.
Kit Malthouse 1st February 2025
Christmas is a very special time. It's when we come together with friends and family to take stock, and give thanks for what we have.
Some years – in the best of times, this is cause for celebration.
Other years – it's more complicated if we're missing loved ones,
affected by illness, or facing money worries, homelessness, or loneliness.
Sometimes – let’s be honest, for many reasons, Christmas can just be about getting through it, and that's ok!
Because regardless of the year that’s been, or the circumstances you find yourself in, Christmas offers everyone a precious gift – hope.
Last week I was sworn in as the MP for South Shields for the fifth time, and each time it strikes me how incredibly honoured I feel that you have put your faith in me as the first female MP to represent you in Parliament. It was a truly historic night as the UK elected […]
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