It was lovely to be at the Mayor’s Picnic at the weekend, organised annually by the Rotary Club of Romsey Test alongside their annual duck race. The picnic is a great chance to catch up with local charities and organisations as well as to enjoy the many entertainments on offer.
This week in Parliament we have seen the return of the Government’s flagship welfare reform bill, the bill on football governance and this Friday is again a sitting day when we will see Private Members Bills debated.
It was a busy day on Wednesday with a question and answer session with St George’s School, the mass climate lobby when my constituent Claire Thompson came up to meet me and I had a meeting with Aster alongside other regional MPs to discuss some of the issues their tenants and customers have raised with us as local MPs.
The St George’s pupils had been on a tour of Parliament, and I had done a zoom lesson with them last week, so their questions were incredibly well informed. There was an enormous interest in what my average day looks like, how hard it is to control the Chamber, and if I could make an instant piece of legislation what would it be. Throughout the day I had a local student doing work experience as well, who had a great seat for PMQs and got to sit in on all my meetings. There is always a massive demand for work experience in my office and it is tricky to accommodate all the requests, but the chance to go to PMQs is always welcomed.
It looks like another pretty busy weekend, with the Southampton Mela Festival, Wallop Wheels and Wings, Music at the Manor in Andover, a play area opening and the Beggars Fair in Romsey. That will certainly mean some rigorous scheduling and relatively short visits, but great that we have such wonderful community events in the constituency and on its boundaries. I know events like these take massive effort from teams of volunteers and don’t simply happen by accident, so a huge thank you to everyone who gives up their time to make them happen.
