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City MPs Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin have welcomed the announcement of major progress for Portsmouth’s bid for City of Culture 2029.
It has been announced this week that the city’s bid, led by local arts organisation Portsmouth Creates, is one of nine to be longlisted for selection. This means the bid will now receive £60,000 to develop a full application.
If the full application is successful, Portsmouth will be officially recognised as the UK’s City of Culture for a year and receive £10 million. Alternatively, if among the three next-best applications, Portsmouth will instead receive £125,000 to help take forward elements of the bid.
This is progress towards a major opportunity for Portsmouth, with previous titleholders having been able to generate new jobs and attract millions of pounds in additional investment and thousands of visitors to their area.
Longlisted bids must finalise their bids to explain fully how they will use culture to create transformational opportunities and better lives for people living in their local area, with the winning bid to be announced later this year.
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said:
“This week, Portsmouth has made amazing progress towards being chosen as the UK’s City of Culture for 2029.
“If successful, this would be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for this city to not only to share Portsmouth’s spirit and value with the rest of Britain, but also to create transformational opportunities and better the lives of local people through culture.
“I would like to thank all those that have been involved in this bid so far, including spearheads Portsmouth Creates, and helped us to achieve this milestone. I look forward to continuing to collaborate on this bid and know that we can succeed!”
Commenting, Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, said:
“This is a hugely exciting moment for Portsmouth and a real testament to the passion, talent and creativity that runs through our city. Being longlisted for UK City of Culture 2029 is a major step forward, and I want to pay tribute to Portsmouth Creates and everyone involved in putting together such a strong bid.
“Portsmouth is a city bursting with creativity, culture and community spirit and this bid is about bringing all of that together to create new opportunities, support local jobs and attract investment that will benefit communities right across our city.
“Securing City of Culture status would not only put Portsmouth on the national and international stage but also help restore a real sense of pride in the place we call home. Even reaching this stage will unlock new funding and momentum, and I’m excited to see the bid develop further in the months ahead.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
“For far too long, opportunity has not been shared equally across the country. The UK City of Culture and new UK Town of Culture competitions recognise the enormous contributions made by communities all over the UK who are all part of the story of who we are as a nation.
“I look forward to seeing what the nine longlisted places have in store as they progress in the competition. I also urge any towns thinking about entering the UK Town of Culture competition to seize this opportunity and get involved. It’s a chance to show the country what makes them unique and shine a spotlight on their cultural offer, enriching the lives of local people.”
The post City MPs celebrate major progress for Portsmouth’s bid for City of Culture 2029 appeared first on Stephen Morgan MP.
City MPs Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin have welcomed the announcement of major progress for Portsmouth’s bid for City of Culture 2029.
It has been announced this week that the city’s bid, led by local arts organisation Portsmouth Creates, is one of nine to be longlisted for selection. This means the bid will now receive £60,000 to develop a full application.
If the full application is successful, Portsmouth will be officially recognised as the UK’s City of Culture for a year and receive £10 million. Alternatively, if among the three next-best applications, Portsmouth will instead receive £125,000 to help take forward elements of the bid.
This is progress towards a major opportunity for Portsmouth, with previous titleholders having been able to generate new jobs and attract millions of pounds in additional investment and thousands of visitors to their area.
Longlisted bids must finalise their bids to explain fully how they will use culture to create transformational opportunities and better lives for people living in their local area, with the winning bid to be announced later this year.
Commenting, Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, said: “This is a hugely exciting moment for Portsmouth and a real testament to the passion, talent and creativity that runs through our city. Being longlisted for UK City of Culture 2029 is a major step forward, and I want to pay tribute to Portsmouth Creates and everyone involved in putting together such a strong bid.
Portsmouth is a city bursting with creativity, culture and community spirit and this bid is about bringing all of that together to create new opportunities, support local jobs and attract investment that will benefit communities right across our city.
Securing City of Culture status would not only put Portsmouth on the national and international stage but also help restore a real sense of pride in the place we call home. Even reaching this stage will unlock new funding and momentum, and I’m excited to see the bid develop further in the months ahead.”
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said: “This week, Portsmouth has made amazing progress towards being chosen as the UK’s City of Culture for 2029.
“If successful, this would be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for this city to not only to share Portsmouth’s spirit and value with the rest of Britain, but also to create transformational opportunities and better the lives of local people through culture.
“I would like to thank all those that have been involved in this bid so far, including spearheads Portsmouth Creates, and helped us to achieve this milestone. I look forward to continuing to collaborate on this bid and know that we can succeed!”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “For far too long, opportunity has not been shared equally across the country. The UK City of Culture and new UK Town of Culture competitions recognise the enormous contributions made by communities all over the UK who are all part of the story of who we are as a nation.
“I look forward to seeing what the nine longlisted places have in store as they progress in the competition. I also urge any towns thinking about entering the UK Town of Culture competition to seize this opportunity and get involved. It’s a chance to show the country what makes them unique and shine a spotlight on their cultural offer, enriching the lives of local people.”
The post City MPs celebrate major progress for Portsmouth’s bid for City of Culture 2029 appeared first on Amanda Martin MP.
The new Steel Strategy launched by the UK Labour Government today will boost domestic steel production and protect thousands of steelmaking jobs in Wales according to Llanelli MP, Dame Nia Griffith.
The MP, a long-standing advocate for the Welsh steel industry and whose constituency includes the Tata Steel plant in Trostre, said the landmark plan will increase the use of British made steel in British projects as well as introduce a new tariff scheme to protect domestic steelmakers in the face of global overcapacity in the sector.
Dame Nia said:
“The steel industry is a vital core element of our economy here in Wales, generating growth and providing thousands of jobs, including hundreds in my own constituency here in Llanelli.
This is a clear, well thought-out, long-term strategy for our steel industry that will help deliver the high-quality steel our country needs for our key infrastructure, our national security and for the wider economy. At the same time, it is also a resounding signal that we are on the side of local steelworkers and prepared to act against the unfair practice of dumping of underpriced imports into our marketplace.
The previous Tory Government completely failed Welsh steel. This strategy is long overdue and will go a long way to stand up for the interests of the Welsh steel industry, give it a firmer footing for years to come and protect so many jobs and livelihoods that rely on a successful steel industry and its supply chain.”
Under the new UK Steel strategy, which builds on support already put in place to including slashing electricity costs for producers via the Supercharger, reforming procurement rules to ensure more domestic steel is considered for public projects and speeding up grid access for new investment projects, the UK Labour Government will:
Dame Nia added:
“This comprehensive package of support and investment will back our steelmakers and local steel communities and finally deliver the level playing field our industry needs and deserves.”
George Freeman intervenes in a debate on the impact of flooding in rural communities to highlight the shear scale of the insurance problem risking serious economic damage to our economy and, as such, is an issue of national importance.
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. On the point of insurance, I have just come from chairing a meeting with Aviva—a great Norfolk insurer, the biggest insurer of houses in the country. It made the point to me that this is the tip of a major iceberg of uninsureability, unmortgageability and then unsaleability, and that the Treasury should be looking at this as a major problem on the balance sheet of this country. It is a Horizon Post Office-sized scandal in its scale, risking serious economic damage to our economy. Does my hon. Friend agree that that elevates this issue to one of national importance?
I was not aware of just how drastic insurers see the situation, but it does not surprise me, based on what I see in my communities. I know that my hon. Friend has worked consistently on the issue of flooding, so I take him at his word that we need to be looking at that problem more seriously.
The Minister has mentioned Aviva, one of Norfolk’s great companies and the biggest insurer of houses in the country. Has she seen its recent report, in which it calculates that about 4.78 million houses are at serious risk of flooding over the next 10 years? I congratulate her on securing the funding in the autumn, which I think was going to protect 60,000 houses, but does she agree that the Treasury should be thinking very deeply about the scale of this challenge in the context of national resilience?
The hon. Member prompts me to mention the biggest ever, greatest, most fantastic and largest investment in flood defences that this Government have just announced. On a more serious note, yes, Aviva did talk to me about that report, as he would imagine. We had a conversation about it and, without straying too much out of my remit and into planning, I believe that such conversations are ongoing with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Tuesday 31st March 1.30pm – 3.30pm All Saints Community Association Tuesday 7th April 11.30am-12.30pm Key Community Bus at Biddick Hall & Whiteleas Family Hub Friday 17th April 5.00pm-9.00pm- ‘Climb / BBQ’ at Simonside Climbing Wall (Event for Young people) Tuesday 21st April 11.30am-12.30pm Key Community Bus at Biddick Hall & Whiteleas Family Hub Friday 1st May 10.00am -12.00pm Action Station Tuesday 5th May 11.30am-12.30pm […]
The post Pride In Place Drop In Events appeared first on Emma Lewell MP.
I wrote a piece in Labour List about acting on public anger towards water company failure. You can read it by following the link below or by reading the text here. Labour List Article Like many Labour MPs I have had a lot of emails encouraging me to watch “Dirty Business”, the Channel 4 docudrama
The post Labour must prove it understands public anger over water company failure – and act on it appeared first on Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.
I have joined colleagues in parliament in writing to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs about the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. We have called for further sanctions on settlers and a total ban on all trade and interaction with illegal Israeli settlements.
You can read the letter below.

I’ve launched my 2026 Clapham & Brixton Hill constituency survey to help identify local issues and understand what matters most to Clapham & Brixton Hill constituents. My 2026 survey covers a range of issues from housing and transport to safety, public services, and the local environment and is open until Friday the 27th March.
This is your chance to make your voice heard. Your views will guide my work in Parliament over the next year to ensure local concerns are front and centre. The survey takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.
👉🏾 Take the survey here:
https://bit.ly/CBHSurvey2026
As your local MP, I’m always keen to hear about the issues affecting you and how I can help improve our area. Every response helps build a clearer picture of what’s working, what isn’t, and where attention is most urgently needed. By sharing your thoughts, you’ll help shape my priorities on everything from community safety and local transport to green spaces, schools, and support for families. Whether you’ve lived here for decades or you’ve only recently moved in, your perspective is invaluable.

If you have neighbours, friends, or family in the constituency who might also want to share their views, please pass the link on. The more voices included, the stronger and more representative the results will be.
The post Clapham & Brixton Hill Constituency Survey 2026 appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
I am getting a huge number of messages from people about potholes across Bassetlaw. Our roads are falling apart and it cannot go on like this.
Many drivers tell me they are worried about damage to their cars. They say they have to swerve to avoid deep holes in the road. People are facing huge bills for car repairs to fix damage to tyres. I have even heard about license plates being ripped from cars by deep potholes in some areas.
Recently, I was contacted by residents who live on Sheffield Road in Blyth. The road there is in a terrible state. Large lorries hit the crater holes at speed, and the impact is so strong that nearby houses shake, day and night. Some residents are struggling to sleep through the night because the vibrations are so bad. Some have even seen cracks appear in their brickwork. That is simply not good enough.
I am pushing for the whole road to be properly resurfaced, not just patched up. I am pleased that this request has now been put forward to the County Council as part of next year’s roads budget. I will keep pressing for it to be approved.
I see the ‘dob jobs’ taking place, but this is a quick fix and not a permanent solution. In some cases, the roads crumble again within weeks. The County Council recently spent £75,000 on flags for lampposts. While I love to see our flag flying, is this really the priority when our roads are in such a bad state?
We have heard plenty of excuses. The councillor in charge of roads has even tried to blame my husband, John Mann, the former MP for Bassetlaw. But I have lived here in Bassetlaw for over 25 years, and I have never known our roads to be in such poor condition. Over the past few months, I have reported over 50 potholes across Bassetlaw. But when I go to report them, I often see that they have been reported many times before, and no action has been taken.
Many people ask me what is being done about it. Here are the facts. Nottinghamshire County Council is in charge of looking after our roads. It runs this service through its company, VIA. The Council has been given an extra £8.3 million from the government to fix roads. This is on top of the £70 million it already has for road repairs. I plan to meet with the County Council very soon, alongside other Nottinghamshire MPs of all parties to discuss the issue.
The Council is saying it plans to buy a special machine called the JCB Pothole Pro. It costs about £200,000 and is meant to repair potholes more quickly. However, I am concerned that the previous Conservative administration looked at this in 2021, and found that the machine did not save money, could damage kerbs, and had problems on narrow roads. Most importantly, it did not fix potholes any faster than normal repair methods.
I will be keeping a close eye on how this money is spent. What matters most is that our roads are maintained and properly repaired. My message is clear, use the money and get on with the job.
The post Potholes are the main concern for Bassetlaw residents appeared first on Jo White MP.
This week Labour has published its draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.
For too long, leaseholders and homeowners with unadopted estates have paid through the roof for
substandard service from unscrupulous managing agents and freeholders.
Every year, homeowners pay £600 million to freeholders. And in 2024, service charges reached an
average of £2,300 a year, increasing well above inflation.
Labour’s Bill will take direct action on the cost-of-living crisis for leaseholders.
The Government is capping ground rent at £250 a year, and moving to a peppercorn after 40 years.
The legislation also establishes commonhold as a default tenure, bans new leasehold flats, and creates
a route for leaseholders who want to transition to commonhold to do so.
More plans are also in the works to make it easier for leaseholders to enfranchise, and to ensure that
managing agents and freeholders are held to account for poor practice.
Every week I see in my constituency inbox the costs which homeowners are forced to pay for
substandard service. Working people deserve managing agents and freeholders who work for them,
and that is exactly what Labour’s Bill will achieve
The post Labour is protecting Leaseholders from unfair charges, and capping ground rents appeared first on Liz Kendall.
The Member of Parliament for Barking, Nesil Caliskan, is celebrating a government announcement on ending leasehold and cap on ground rents: “Since I became the MP for Barking, I have been fighting against dodgy developers and housing management companies who have been ripping people off,” she said. “It is clear the system is broken.”
The government has announced a total ban on new leaseholds, with current leaseholders given the choice to switch to commonhold as part of the new Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill. There will also be a cap on ground rents of £250, drastically reducing the cost of homeownership for people across the country.
Nesil Caliskan has called out developers, freeholders and housing managing companies across Barking for their exploitative practices and unaffordable service charges. Last year, for example, she slammed HomeGround, a freeholder in Barking Riverside linked to many allegations of poor transparency and exploitative fees: “They have made the dream of homeownership a living nightmare for so many families in Barking & Dagenham.”
Commenting on the wider reforms, Nesil Caliskan MP said: “Freeholders and management companies have exploited the basic need of people to have a roof over their head for too long, charging sky-high fees for poor service.
“I have seen families living with no heating or hot water and elderly people forced to climb flights of stairs because the management company failed to do basic lift repairs.
“I’m glad that now people in Barking & Dagenham will be able to have a say over their own futures, and we are seeing the back of this feudal system.”
The post December Newsletter appeared first on Mohammad Yasin 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.
The post Toby Perkins MP supports Chesterfield Hedgehog Rescue and Rehabilitation appeared first on Toby Perkins Labour MP.