Sir Edward Leigh

By Sir Edward Leigh edwardleigh

With less than a year to go before Brexit, it is important that we build firm foundations for our future. We have ambitious plans in which we are a global Britain trading freely with our friends in Europe and beyond.

We achieved sufficient progress in the first stage of the negotiations, guaranteeing citizens’ rights and allowing us to move to the next stage to ensure a smooth transition.

I was very pleased to see that real progress has been made on strengthening the county’s ties with China’s Hunan province. The county council has signed a declaration of friendship and economic co-operation with Hunan and the summit, a few weeks ago, cemented relations.

I had the great privilege a few weeks ago to welcome Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, to the county for a dinner where he addressed over four-hundred local people.

He echoed this vision and emphasised the opportunities that will be available to us as nation once we are free of the European Union. I was very pleased to present him with a couple of bottles of wine from the Somerby Vineyard, in my constituency, near Caistor; I am confident that he will enjoy this fine local vintage.

The government is pursuing a modern industrial strategy to deliver better, higher paying jobs across the country and an international trade policy to open new markets for our exports. I will be welcoming Dr. Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, to the county in the coming weeks.

I am determined that as we leave the European Union our future will be a bright one. That as powers return to Parliament from Brussels we will regain full control over our laws, borders, money and build a stronger, more prosperous United Kingdom. So, it’s full steam ahead to Brexit.

I have been in Parliament for 35 years and have had the dubious honour of being the MP with the least used railway station in the country – Gainsborough Central.

Since the station was built in 1849 it has never had an hourly service, later this year, after years and years of campaigning, a regular hourly service between Gainsborough Central and Sheffield will commence; whilst the Saturday service to Cleethorpes will continue.

There is also hope that an agreement could be reached to give Market Rasen a direct service to London. My colleague, Martin Vickers, the Conservative MP for Cleethorpes, takes a keen interest in rail matters and has been working very hard to try and reconnect the south bank of the Humber with the capital. With the franchise for the rail operating company coming up sooners than planned, services between Market Rasen could be included in the new agreement.

This would complement services already planned to be expanded between Lincoln and London by extending them up the tracks to Market Rasen, Barnetby, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

I also took great pride in visiting the Vatican with colleagues from the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Holy See a couple of weeks ago. Our excellent Ambassador, Sally Axworthy, introduced me to Pope Francis who said to our group: “Pray for me – I need it. And I will pray for you.”

The government is continuing to deliver. School standards continue to improve, more children are achieving the standard in phonics, free childcare has doubled for parents of three and four-year olds (saving families around £5,000 a year).

There is never a shortage of priorities to be pursued; but the government is working hard to cut costs for hard-working families, individuals and improve opportunities for all.

Sir Edward Leigh has been the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough since 1983.

By Sir Edward Leigh edwardleigh

Winter is always a time of great strain on our emergency services. Dark nights, that draw in early, coupled with snow and ice bring extra challenges to providing effective response times.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) receives, on average 2,500 emergency or urgent 999 calls every day. I was therefore surprised to learn that for the entire West Lindsey district, that makes up the majority of my constituency, they only devote one and a half ambulances.

Given the size of the district – over 400 square miles – surely this is insufficient? I have written to EMAS asking how residents can expect a timely response, especially when services are stretched during the cold season. Those that have seen me on the backbenches during my parliamentary career will be aware that I am far from a big spender. The government cannot just tax hard working people and spend recklessly. It must be devoted to keeping taxes as low as possible and taking as little of people’s money as possible; whilst ensuring the making sure every penny is spent wisely, getting the best possible outcomes.

Money doesn’t grow on trees. However, our National Health Service, schools and infrastructure are worth investing in.

Government at all levels doesn’t function without the contribution of talented, hard-working individuals. One such individual has been Tony McArdle, who is standing down from his post as chief executive of Lincolnshire County Council. He has been a model of professionalism, in the 12 years he has been in post, and a dedicated servant of our county and its people. I also noted with some interest that at their January meeting West Lindsey District Council decided to delete the post of chief executive, which has remained unfilled since the departure of Manjeet Gill last July and will now be run by three executive directors.

Lincolnshire has made a particularly notable contribution to defence over the past century, not more so than during the Second World War when our farms were turned into landing fields for the Royal Air Force. In this centenary year for the RAF defence remains one of those expensive areas of public spending; where the price of not spending enough is far higher, than the cost of spending a great amount. I have argued that we must maintain a full range of capabilities to ensure that the government has all options on the table when this country is faced with threats.

Last month, I emphasised in the House of Commons that many of us are sympathetic with the Ministry of Defence in the continual battles with the Treasury to secure better funding for the armed forces.

Proper defence is also about knowing when and how to use our armed forces. Since the start of this millennium we have seen the UK participating in military actions which have not just been extremely unwise, but counterproductive as well. Our intervention in Libya only made the country worse and provided a vast section of the north African coastline for people smugglers to take advantage of some of the most vulnerable on the planet. I recently suggested to the Foreign Secretary that we must learn the lessons of Iraq, Libya and Syria and that we should not attempt to use military force to remove unpleasant authoritarian regimes only for them to be replaced by disastrous totalitarian movements.

Sir Edward Leigh has been the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough since 1983.