Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Hello from Harrogate

Hello from Harrogate

Hello from Harrogate where I am writing this on Sunday morning. I have been here this weekend for the Liberal Democrats’ Spring Conference. 

Yesterday morning I enjoyed a cream tea (for breakfast!) at one of Harrogate’s famous tea rooms, where I and fellow MPs including Tom Gordon and Ed Davey spent some time talking to local Young Carers. The Independent has a write up of Ed’s interview. You can also watch a video of me being interviewed by a Young Carer on the London open top bus I wrote about in last week’s Monday Mail.

Cutting welfare and station access

Last Tuesday Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced plans to reduce the welfare budget by £5 billion. At this stage it is hard to comment fully on this announcement as the government has not yet published the details of what will change. 

What is clear from talking to people in Mid Sussex, is that the manner in which last week’s announcements were trailed, and then the ongoing uncertainty, is causing real distress as people worry about whether they will be hit. In the House of Commons I mentioned Geoff from Haywards Heath who was born with a visual impairment and told me that he and the visually impaired community are very anxious. 

If the government is serious about encouraging more people into work, then they need to make travelling to work easier for people with mobility issues. On Tuesday in a debate on step free access to stations, I highlighted Wivlesfield Station which has been promised money to make sure that both platforms are step free, but we still wait for the work to begin. I am writing to the Department for Transport on this matter.

One impressive colleague

The House of Commons has many very impressive people.

One of them is the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne Josh Babarinde. Josh is campaigning to get a specific set of domestic abuse offences created in law. His interview in The Times where he shares the abuse he experienced as a child is a must read. If you don’t have a subscription to the Times, then you could read the debate that he led and I attended last Monday where he sets out the change that he is looking to secure from the government. 

Getting in touch

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

Best wishes,

Alison

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