Matt Warman

By Matt Warman Boston & Skegness MP

Britain, it is often said, is a nation of animal lovers. That would explain why the number of emails, letters and social media posts I’ve received about bees, the trade in ivory and the use of CCTV in slaughterhouses is much larger than many would expect. And it’s also why it was so hugely gratifying to hear the RSPCA – politically impartial – hail the “incredible two weeks” for animal welfare that the government has just delivered.

First off, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has delivered on a pledge to introduce video monitoring in slaughterhouses. This was already regarded as good practice in the industry, but of course it’s those abattoirs that show scant regard for best practice that most need to install it.

Those businesses with nothing to hide have, of course, nothing to fear, but those where animals are ill-treated will now no longer be able to hide behind the excuse that there simply isn’t sufficient evidence.

It’s an obvious and significant piece of progress that will have the greatest impact on the worst offenders.

Second, the ban on the trade in ivory (with some very small exceptions for the trade in certain antiques) will mean that there is no longer the driving force, from this country at least, for an extraordinary and barbaric practice that is increasingly being driven by growing markets in the Far East.

The poaching and butchering of elephants for their tusks may not be the first issue on voters minds at any one moment, but I’ve not met a single constituent who thinks it is something that Britain should have any part in perpetuating.

Similarly, and equally welcomed by the RSPCA, is the ban on so-called ‘microbeads’ in soaps and facescrubs, that while they may feel nice on the skin end up clogging up the oceans and causing huge environmental damage.

We will look back on their use as extraordinary, in the same way we look back on the idea of zero recycling as bizarre.

And in among the Brexiting and the NHS reform and the increased funding for schools, it is a Conservative government that is getting on with this, as well as trialling a deposit scheme for plastic bottles.

There is, of course, plenty of work to do on other animal welfare issues, and (un)surprisingly it is thanks to the EU that the UK cannot unilaterally ban the export of live animals.

Although none go through our own Port of Boston, it remains a scandal that, quite unnecessarily animals suffer over the course of travelling huge distances.

In some parts of Europe, it remains the case that transporters simply leave the carcasses of those that don’t make it by the side of the road.

Stopping this practice is yet another example of a potential improvement Britain can make when it comes to designing our own free trade laws.

The job of a Member of Parliament is to represent the views of their constituents not just on the front-page issues, but on everything: sensible approaches to animal welfare that benefit farmers, consumers and the animals themselves is crucial.

And it has indeed, as the RSPCA says, been a pretty incredible two weeks.

Matt Warman is the Conservative MP for the Boston and Skegness constituency.

By Matt Warman Boston & Skegness MP

‘What’, Monty Python famously wondered, ‘have the Romans ever done for us?’ Sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system and public health, as well as peace, were not enough for the long-forgotten Reg, who asked the question in Life of Brian.

There’s a danger in politicians casting themselves as the Romans and the public as Reg, but nonetheless it’s important we all keep our feet on the ground, and that’s why I perform an occasional audit so that when I’m asked ‘What have you ever done for us?’, I at least avoid an awkward pause.

On a national level, the answers are always easier than they are locally: at heart, the answer has been something like ‘Delivered the manifesto people voted for’.

That means a referendum on the EU, cutting taxes while investing more than ever into the NHS and continuing to make the case for even more local provision.

And it also means making sure we are all safe and overseeing the lowest level of unemployment since 1975.

But how does that translate locally? That’s often harder to define.

This last week, however, an excellent couple of examples have emerged: local figures reveal that unemployment in Boston and Skegness is more than a third lower than it was in 2010, and perhaps just as significantly we learnt that the £1.3 billion increase in funding for schools translates into 4% extra for schools in the constituency.

Some will get more than that by quite a long way, and nobody – even those previously preparing for cuts – will get less than a rise of 0.5%.

Those previous plans had seen three-quarters of Boston and Skegness’ schools get increases of varying sizes, but it did ask some, particularly secondary schools, to make further savings.

Our schools have been victims of historic underfunding, exacerbated by government moves from 1997 to pour money into inner-city schools. Rural areas lost out.

In Parliament before the election I spoke against the government, saying that I thought the proposals, which did send some more money to rural schools, could be ‘even better’.

That might not sound much, but the point was clearly made: this Conservative wouldn’t support a Conservative government that didn’t give Lincolnshire’s schools the funding they need and our children deserve.

I was pleased to see that the 2017 Conservative Manifesto included the change in policy I’d asked for.

I can’t claim all the credit for this change in policy by any means – but when people say what has Westminster done for Boston and Skegness, I can add to the additional £12 million secured to help Lincolnshire’s potholes, to a host of local improvements and to hundreds of individual constituents helped a new, vital improvement: £2.3 million is now going in to the schools of Boston and Skegness, with improvements hopefully to be felt for years to come.

It is not a silver bullet for the complex challenges in education.

But it’s genuinely significant, and it shows Lincolnshire, finally, punching above its weight.

Matt Warman is the Conservative MP for the Boston and Skegness constituency.