Southern Water has again dominated my week and I was very pleased the Speaker granted my Urgent Question application on Tuesday. UQs only give members a maximum of two minutes to get their issue across to Ministers, so it was all a bit rushed, but it did make sure DEFRA Ministers were wholly aware of the strength of feeling of local MPs on this.
Later that afternoon Steve Brine (Winchester’s MP) , Paul Holmes (Eastleigh) and I had a meeting with the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers of Southern Water. What is very clear is the need for Southern Water to conclude the investigation into what went wrong at Otterbourne, and to get on with the improvements there which will see three storage tanks replace the single one which was affected by dirty water last week.
I was part of the Bill Committee scrutinising Greg Clark’s private members bill on sex based harassment in public. There is a clear cross party consensus on this issue and I am relieved that we are making progress on legislation at long last. A wide coalition of organisations, from the Girl Guides to the Soroptimists have all been pressing for public sexual harassment to be a specific crime, and this Bill is edging us in that direction.
Finally, Nomads’ performance of the Little Mermaid last week was funny, and entertaining. The cast were an absolute delight, especially Dame Dusty who had the best pair of ankles I have seen on a Pantomime Dame for a long time! Nomads raise so much for charity and give young people a real chance to shine on the stage, I can’t wait for next year!
