Last week was full of Chinese New Year celebrations but as an MP sanctioned by the Chinese Government this mostly involved Tibetans and British Overseas Passport holders who have escaped the Chinese regime’s latest persecution in Hong Kong. As Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet I hosted the first Tibetan New Year celebration in Parliament and we were joined by a very special friend of Tibet Dame Joanna Lumley.
Joanna was brought up in an army family with her father an officer with the Gurkha Rifles, was born in India and lived in Nepal, but I had not realised she had travelled widely in Tibet too, in happier times. After an evening of Tibetan music and dancing she spoke passionately about the spirit and defiance of the Tibetan people and a burning passion that some day Tibet will be free.
There are a few days left for constituents to nominate a local area which needs sprucing up with the work carried out by people subject to community sentences as part of the Community Payback Spring Clean. The scheme was instituted by the Ministry of Justice last year as a way for people with a criminal record but who have not been given a custodial sentence doing something constructive for local communities who have been impacted by their crimes.
There are several strands to the scheme but as part of the Spring Clean project anyone can nominate an area that needs tidying up and the winning entries will be undertaken in the spring. I have already nominated the A27 from Southwick to Shoreham although the rubbish there is not as bad as it has been after I intervened to get Highways England to liaise properly with Adur Council to coordinate times when the road is closed for maintenance of Southwick Tunnel for litter picks.
For further details go to Nominate a Community Payback project - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) or I have put a video with more information on my Twitter feed and website.
