In Parliament

I've been so preoccupied by Walley's that I haven't had time to post this yet, but I spoke in the Budget Debate on the same day as my 10 Minute Rule Bill.

I am pleased to announce that I have sponsored a bid submitted to the Restoring your Railway Programme Ideas Fund, to investigate the possibility of restoring a mainline rail connection to Newcastle, out past Silverdale and to the West Coast Mainline.

The UK are leading the rest of Europe on the total vaccination rollout. Our vaccination programme is a national success story, and the reason it matters is that it allows us to replace the protection currently given by restrictions on our freedoms with the protection from science.

Yesterday Labour held an Opposition Day Debate on the Government's management of the economy over the past decade. This turned out to be another chance to remind the Labour Party exactly why it is in opposition.

Earlier this week, I was happy to co-sponsor a Bill brought to the Commons by my colleague and former Universities Minister, Chris Skidmore MP, which seeks to prohibit the operation and advertising of essay mill services.

Coronavirus, just like flu, mutates over time, so responding to new variants as soon as they arise is critical to protect ourselves for the long term.

Even though most of us are contributing from home, Monday night is still the late night as far as the Commons is concerned (because the sitting starts later to allow Members from all over the country to travel down).