Parliament returned this week though at the time of writing this it is not clear we will be voting in person in a line socially distanced which could involve spilling out on to the Embankment with the suspension of virtual voting that we were just about getting to grips with. I will bring a sleeping bag just in case!
Later this week we will be dealing with the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill which resurrects the review of boundaries first launched in 2011 but never enacted. We are also dealing with the Corporate Insolvency and Sentencing Bills along with a debate on the UK/EU Brexit negotiations. The first piece of business was a statement by the Foreign Secretary on the worrying situation in Hong Kong where the increasingly anti-democratic Government of China is about to snuff out the civil liberties and freedom of expression of some 7.5m citizens.
Given my long-standing involvement with exposing repressive Chinese regimes as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Tibet Group I raised the issue of the worrying way that China is increasingly buying and bullying influence in British schools, on British university campuses and in British board rooms. I am glad to report that Dominic Raab shared my view.
I was delighted to announce the first four winners of my Coronavirus Community Champion awards in my constituency e-newsletter last week. The first winner is a community group Crafting for Covid set up by Victoria Hill which has 400 members who are making free items for NHS and keyworkers such as Scrub bags/Scrubs/ skull caps/Ear comforters and headbands. They have donated to many Hospitals, Care-homes and other key workers in the West Sussex area, and beyond.
Second is an individual well known to many for his various community roles well before Coronavirus arrived on the scene since which he has gone into overdrive! Sompting residents Tom Smith is a volunteer for SERV Sussex (Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers) During the pandemic Tom has been out almost daily helping deliver medication to people in their homes in the region and delivering clinical samples for processing. He does all of this on his own motorbike.
The third award this week goes to Telecom Provider Group Focus of Ham Road in Shoreham. Despite having no staff to cook for onsite they have kept their kitchens open and every day are producing fantastic fresh ready meals for the local community including approximately 60 which are distributed every evening by the ‘Shopital’ team outside Worthing Hospital to NHS staff coming off shift.
The fourth award goes to Truffles Bakery who right from the start were donating daily to the ‘Shopital’ project at Worthing Hospital providing surplus bread, cakes, soup and especially doughnuts to grateful NHS staff. Given the early difficulties for people getting out shops for food essentials they took the shop to the community and have been selling their bakery products from their mobile shop throughout Adur too.
Thanks for the many excellent nominations flooding in. I will announce the next group in my weekly video next week.
