Due to the upcoming General Election, Parliament will be dissolved at midnight on 2nd May.
This means that a number of important Bills were brought forward and passed into law in April. I am particularly happy that the Digital Economy Bill, for which I sat on the Public Bill Committee, has now been formalised as the Digital Economy Act. This Act is crucial for a prosperous modern economy and for ensuring peoples’ safety in an increasingly online world. It has a Universal Service Obligation that will allow everyone in the country to have sufficient broadband speeds to be properly connected to other people and businesses. It protects children from harmful material by making age verification on pornography sites more stringent. And it is highly consumer-friendly with measures such as the criminalisation of bots that dominate primary ticket markets and sell concert and sports tickets on for extortionately inflated prices.
Outside of the UK, I joined a Parliamentary delegation led by Rehman Chisti to Pakistan to see how UK aid money is being spent and meet national and local leaders. I have been concerned that some of the funds we send abroad are not spent in the humanitarian capacity that our Government intends. Having visited Pakistan, however, I am encouraged and heartened that significant funds are being put into infrastructural and charitable projects that help the poorest people in countries that are less economically developed than the UK. The Prime Minister has pledged that we will continue to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid and whilst I believe that we should remain cautious and diligent about where we direct this money, I was persuaded in Pakistan that our assistance is deeply valued by those that we offer it to.
This month we continued investigations into the impacts of Brexit and doping in sport in Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearings. I am proud of what the Committee has achieved during this Parliament. We have held organisations like BT Group to account to ensure they deliver better infrastructure; we have fought against the rise of the secondary ticket market; we have advocated wider mobile coverage; we have instigated stadia redevelopment to accommodate the physically disabled and produced a report that changed attitudes to homophobia in sport; we have brought the institutional failings of the FA into the public consciousness; and we have investigated the impact of Brexit for sectors across the British economy.
I am looking forward to spending more time in Worcestershire with my Parliamentary duties on hold. It has been a pleasure this month to spend time with the West Mercia Police in Evesham and meet people across the constituency from Broadway in the South to Ombersley and Hartlebury in the North. I was particularly interested to hear about the police’s move to a more mobile and digital way of working, something that I hope will help them tackle crime in Worcestershire even more effectively. The West Mercia Police have always been hugely helpful when in communication with me and my staff and it was very evident on my visit that they are doing a fantastic job for local communities.
I also met representatives of Shopmobility this month, which is a brilliant business in Evesham that is centred on providing assistance to those who have impaired mobility while they visit the town centre. They have been building a network of members for a number of years and are now a valued and entrenched part of the local community. I would highly encouraged anyone who struggles with mobility who is not aware of what assistance they can offer to look them up and get in touch.
As we move into May I will cease to be an MP and become a Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Worcestershire. I look forward to meeting many more of the county’s residents in this capacity.