GOOD MORNING & welcome to my weekly update - no.267
 

As you will have seen by now in exactly six weeks today we will be voting in a General Election. Some of you may have seen Rishi’s rain-soaked announcement yesterday which was, in my view, a brave and principled decision to ask the country to make its choice earlier than expected. I will be standing proudly for election in Godalming and Ash. I have tried to be a conscientious local MP for South West Surrey and the new constituency includes the village of Shere where I grew up. But it is a highly marginal seat (for my sins I am regularly described as one of the ‘big beasts’ that could lose their seat) so I have always known I will need to fight hard for every single vote. There may therefore be slightly more political content in these newsletters than normal over the next few weeks for which apologies…starting with a request for help! If you are able to help delivering leaflets, knocking on doors or putting up posters please email [email protected].  

NEWS FROM WESTMINSTER (APART FROM THE ELECTION)


INFLATION FINALLY DOWN TO NORMAL Yesterday was a big day for the economy, with inflation having fallen to 2.3% – down from its peak of over 11% when I became Chancellor. The last few years have been difficult, not least with the high interest rates necessary to bring inflation down, but alongside us coming out of a technical recession two weeks ago this is a crucial indicator showing the economy has turned a corner. I talk about it in  this clip. I had one of the most spiky interviews I have ever done with Emma Barnett on the Today programme (0810 slot) - I think she was looking for a gotcha moment and getting increasingly frustrated not to get one but on the Today programme…mmm! You can also see me on BBC Breakfast, LBC with Nick Ferrari (50mins), Times Radio (2hrs 53) and ITV (2hrs 12).


IMF UPGRADE GROWTH FORECASTS Inflation coming down was not the only good news for the economy that we had this week. The IMF did their  annual health check on the economy so I welcomed Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF to London on Tuesday. They upgraded our growth forecasts for this year to 0.7% and 1.5% for next, said the UK economy was in a ‘good place’ and predicted our economy will grow faster than France, Germany, Italy or Japan over the next six year. Look at this clip of her verdict on how Rishi and I have been handling the economy…

INFECTED BLOOD At the start of this week we had an incredibly personal moment for me as the Infected Blood Inquiry reported. Some of you may know former Farnham resident Mike Dorricott who came to see me about it in 2007 having been infected himself. Neither of us had any idea I would become Health Secretary or indeed the Chancellor responsible for finding the compensation payments - although the great sadness for me is that Mike died in 2015. You can read my interview in the Sunday Times on my personal involvement and support for the campaign over many years. Rishi Sunak gave an unequivocal apology which for me was actually the most moving speech I have heard him do in parliament.   Interim payments of £210,000 will be made within 90 days to those who are infected and the first final payments are expected before the end of this year, exempt from tax. More information here but I also want to thank Steve Nichols and Melanie Richmond, two constituents who alongside Mike helped me understand just how appalling this tragedy was.

WHAT’S GOING ON LOCALLY

BRAMLEY FUEL STATION Lots is now happening in Bramley in relation to the petrol station. There was a great meeting last night in Bramley on the fuel leak which Councillor Jane Austin chaired as for obvious reasons I was detained in London. Progress is being made on the leak itself, but I totally understand people’s heightened concerns about drinking water in Bramley so I have had a meeting with Thames WAter area Director this morning and will escalate with the UK Health Security Agency so you have a statement on this by tonight. 

I am as shocked as you are about how this leak occurred it transpires many years ago. The investigation continues.

1.  BT Openreach has issues with fuel products in their drainage system (you may have seen a fire brigade called to site) and so the drains on the High Street have been cordoned off and left open. This is so any fuel vapour is allowed to release and does not collect. Environmental specialists are working on how to remove the fuel safely.

2. A temporary precautionary stop notice has been placed on drinking water at St Catherine’s School. There is an advisory note from Thames Water on water quality and testing across the village here (slide 2). 

3. Here (slide 3) is a statement from Asda (and their Consultants EPS) who are working with me, St Cats and Councillor Jane Austin to ensure everything is being done for Bramley Village.

4. Lastly, I want to reassure Bramley residents that comprehensive analysis and testing has been going on throughout Bramley for many months now. Fixing this terrible fuel leak and all the ensuing problems we are having remains absolute top priority for me, Councillor Jane Austin, and all of the numerous organisations involved.

THAMES WATER COMPENSATION We've been in various discussions with Thames Water following the public meeting last month in Godalming and this week I got a final update . I have a final update about compensation, which confirms £30 payment plus £30 for anyone who has complained directly to them or via their MP on top of statutory  compensation. But we need to keep pressing Thames Water on delivery of promised investment and improvements to ensure we don't have outages like November in the first place. This is my focus, together with ensuring Ofwat make good on their commitment at our public meeting that Thames Water bills will not increase because of previous management failures. They expect all payments to be complete by the end of June and I will keep on the case.

GODALMING TRAIN STATION LAYOUT Thank you all for your feedback regarding Godalming train station’s new layout. It’s obvious right now the new format is not working so last week I sent a letter to the Managing Director of South Western Railway, which you can read here and spoke to him yesterday about possible solutions. I have also been in touch with Surrey Leader Tim Oliver to ask him to reverse the changes but it is disappointing Waverley did not object when they had the chance to.

PUBLIC MEETING IN ASH On Friday we had a great debate at the public meeting I organised in Ash. We discussed the issues which are really key to local people: top of the list was step-free access at Ash Vale Station and delivery of infrastructure to support new housing. On national issues we had a fantastic debate about skills shortages, getting people back into work, and the cost of our public services and its relationship with growing our economy. Thank you for a great evening.

BRAMLEY FETE Bramley Fete is always a total highlight for my kids. Congrats to Cllr Jane Austin and all the organisers - and especially Phil the loudspeaker guy who pointed us towards the amazing waffle stall who were apparently there by accident as they had meant to go do a fete at a different Bramley somewhere else - surely there can only be one Bramley worth visiting?

COMPTON FETE Then as a bonus we went for the first time to the Compton Fete. Totally different in character - you can see maggot races and ferret racing for a more unusual experience alongside other more traditional attractions. Thanks to Jill Eyles for welcoming me and with others making it such a success. There is no better way to spend a weekend in Surrey than at two village fetes in one day!

CANVASSING OR DELIVERING LEAFLETS are the best way to stay healthy and have a long life! Just reply to this email if you would like to join in. If you are in the new Farnham and Bordon constituency why not sign up to Conservative candidate Greg Stafford’s email at this address [email protected]. Greg will make a tremendous MP although I remain sad to say goodbye to Farnham and Haslemere!

SURGERY CALLS This week’s call was to a young man who goes to Godalming College about ‘Owen’s law’ - a campaign to require all restaurants and cafes to warn people proactively about ingredients that could cause an allergic reaction such as peanuts. A very important issue for people like him who can suffer anaphylactic shocks and I will see what I can do to help.

PHYLLIS TUCKWELL Please join me in supporting Phyllis Tuckwell who are launching their campaign to build a new hospice. Over the weekend Phylis Tuckwell ran a 36-hour appeal so every donation made in this window will be doubled up to the campaign goal of £420,000 by some generous Phyllis Tuckwell match donors. Please do sponsor them if you can: https://www.charityextra.com/pth/sarah-church. 

ASH ROAD BRIDGE As of Wednesday last week Guildford Borough Council announced a change to the traffic management layout in Foreman Road for the next stage of road widening. The section between the right turn out of Foreman Park and the left turn out of Vyne Walk will be closed to all traffic, including pedestrians. This will last around 9 weeks but will hopefully be worth it at the end of the work.

SOCIAL MEDIA If you would like more regular updates of my work locally and nationally, do follow me on Facebook, X (Twitter), WhatsApp or Instagram. 

AND FINALLY… I think we will all aspire to be like this courageous 106 year old as we grow older, who just completed a 9000 ft skydive! So that means no excuses not to skydive as the next way for me to raise money for the Royal Surrey…

As always, if you know anyone (a friend or neighbour perhaps?) who might like to receive this email, please do forward it on. Anyone can sign up here to receive them and can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the box below or emailing me.