Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Brew Monday

Welcome to my Monday Mail. 

As your Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex, I write a short email each Monday sharing what I have been doing and thinking about in the past week.

Brew Monday

The third Monday of January is sometimes called ‘blue Monday’ because it is meant to be the most depressing Monday of the year due. This may be due to a combination of dwindling bank balances, grey winter weather and failed New Year’s resolutions.

The Samaritans however have rebranded it as Brew Monday. The idea being that if you have a friend who you haven’t heard from for a while, why not reach out to them and suggest a cuppa.

Winter pressures in the NHS continue. On Wednesday I was able to raise with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the news that one London hospital is trying to recruit dedicated corridor care nurses. I know from the doctors and nurses that I speak to here in Mid Sussex that there is just as much pressure in our local hospitals too. As well as concern for patients, I also worry about people working in hospitals, how they can keep going, when it must feel utterly relentless. I discussed this on BBC Sussex on Thursday morning.

Sixth Form Strikes in Sussex Debate

I tabled my first ‘Adjournment Debate’ since being elected last week. The subject of the debate was the strikes at 32 non academised Sixth Form Colleges across England. 

Locally it’s having a big impact with teachers at BHASVIC, Varndean and Collyers taking industrial action. Here in Mid Sussex as well as teachers who work at these colleges, there are students who have missed out on seven days of education since late November. The National Education Union has just announced another three strike days in the weeks ahead. 

Why are the teachers on strike? 

Well, incredibly, when the government announced a pay award for school teachers last summer, they did not include funding for sixth form colleges that are not academies. In effect this creates a two tier education system with teachers with the same qualifications, teaching the same courses not being paid the same as other teachers at schools and colleges in the same area. In 2023 the then (Conservative) Secretary of State for Education made sure there was funding to give all teachers the same pay rise. This says to me that the government does have a choice in this matter even though right now they are refusing to budge. 

You can watch ITV Meridian’s coverage of my debate here.

Winter Pressures and Corridor Care

Winter pressures in the NHS continue. On Wednesday I was able to raise with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the news that one London hospital is trying to recruit dedicated corridor care nurses. I know from the doctors and nurses that I speak to here in Mid Sussex that there is just as much pressure in our local hospitals too. As well as concern for patients, I also worry about people working in hospitals, how they can keep going, when it must feel utterly relentless. I discussed this on BBC Sussex on Thursday morning.

Marching on County Hall  

Conservative controlled West Sussex County Council have now officially informed the government that they wish to be considered for the priority programme for a devolution deal which would see Sussex get a mayor, and local government be reorganised in the next couple of years. In the short term this means that May’s county council elections would be cancelled if the Sussex bid is successful. At the weekend I joined Liberal Democrats from across West Sussex in Chichester to demand that we must be allowed to vote this May. 

Something to read

Journalist Lewis Goodall has written a substack that begins, Ed Davey has done something interesting- and there is no bungee jump involved… 

…it’s about Brexit.

What I’ve been listening to

Today will see Donald Trump return to the Whitehouse (I told you it was Blue Monday).

Radio 4 series Insert Strong Message Here is presented by two of my favourite political commentators Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci. It is about the language of politics. Ahead presidential inauguration, I have enjoyed catching up on episode 3 about the language of the 2024 US election. 

That’s all for this week. I think it’s time to get the kettle on, have a brew, and find a friend to talk it over with.

Getting in touch

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch.

I am pleased that the backlog of letters and emails that built up immediately after the general election is getting smaller thanks to my lovely and dedicated staff. Response times are still not as quick as I want them to be, but we are making progress. 

Best wishes,
Alison

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