Our Plan for this Parliament
2019 was quite a year. For me, it is a year to remember – and to forget – because never before had I seen politics and Parliament in such a mess. That said, I believed real leadership would get us through the mess. I stood firm as I believed there was a better deal to secure from Europe. And I believed that you would back me.
We can now move forward, together. We can unite our country. And we can unleash Britain’s potential. So, what is ‘Our Plan’ for North East Hampshire in this Parliament?
While I hope many of you will have seen my columns or posts over the last year, here or online (fb.com/ranil.uk), I thought it might be useful to restate the priorities that I am now able to continue working on, on your behalf. And it’s ‘Our’ Plan for a reason; I would love to work together with people across North East Hampshire, so I’ve highlighted how you can join me in this endeavour.
- First – a superb education for all: striving to secure even more support for our local schools. I’m delighted we’re levelling up funding for every pupil in every school. At the same time, we need to plan now for an outstanding new school – and your feedback is vital. Why not take a look at: ranil.uk/school ?
- Second – revitalising and regenerating our retail centres: backing bold brownfield regeneration to make major greenfield development wholly unnecessary. I’ve written more on this in my ‘Constituency Conservation Charter’, which you can read and sign, to tell our local councils and councillors how you feel, at: ranil.uk/charter .
- Third – faster, longer, better trains: because the reliability and capacity of South Western Railway is simply not good enough. Great Western Railway’s performance has been transformed in recent years, so getting the GWR Managing Director to take over SWR holds promise – and I will push him to improve our services.
- Next – better roads across our area: fighting to boost investment in fixing our roads locally – part of which is my ‘Pothole Busting’ team. Hampshire County Council will fix the potholes you report – at: bit.ly/roadrepairs – but do send me your HCC reference number and phone number too and I’ll chase if they don’t. Would you like to join the team? Drop me a line: [email protected] – with you on board, we’ll be an even stronger team.
- Importantly – local services that keep us greener, cleaner and safer: including more police patrols to take back control of our streets. 20,000 new officers is great – and my petition to get Hampshire our fair share is at: ranil.uk/policing , so please make sure you sign in and send it to your friends and neighbours too.
- Finally – £33.9bn extra for our NHS and new seed funding for a new North Hampshire Hospital. Great news. And, locally, I want to facilitate sharing best practise, between our GPs and our councils. For example, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council built and leases a surgery – giving residents and GPs a modern, fit-for-purpose building, which is a good investment for local taxpayers too. We need more of this.
These are the areas that matter to local people and where I will focus my work for you and your family. It’s about helping you live a better life. That’s what keeps me going. So, let’s work together. Let’s put the difficulties of the last few years behind us. Let’s unite for the common good of all in North East Hampshire and across the country.
As ever, if you have thoughts or ideas, whether on the above or something else, I want to hear from you. Do drop me an email to: [email protected] or simply follow me on Facebook: fb.com/ranil.uk