Reduce disadvantage, distress and handicap; increase well-being, the mix of wealth and welfare.
The foundations for achievement together can include a spirit of hope, hard work and progress. During a few hours on Monday I shared experience of just about every emotion. Over the past 25 years I have stood alongside the family of former constituent Jay Abatan who tragically died after an unprovoked attack. I hosted a meeting for some of his family at the House of Commons. The publicity could help police gather more information, leading to criminal charges.
Remember how Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll’s skill and dedication led to two convictions long after the murderous attack on my then constituent Stephen Lawrence.
On the uplifting side, I commend Ian Ross’s amazing education and social welfare work. We became friends when he stood for the Labour party in Worthing West. We respected each other; we were alternatives, not enemies. I would not think of disparaging him and he did not talk me down.
There are difficult, long-lasting international challenges, including misery associated with attacks on Israel since 1948, the grim lives of Palestinians, and the reduction of the Arab share of the West Bank often resulting from aggressive settler activity. On election, I thought it right to visit the West Bank and Israel with the Israelis and then with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
Leadership for security and peace can cost lives. Remember the life and death of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli general, politician and statesman. He was the fifth Israeli prime minister after Golda Meir. His second term started in 1992. He was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to the Oslo peace accords. Rabin was described as a symbol of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He was not the first and will not be the last.
Said Hammani, the Palestinian diplomat and politician was the representative in the UK of the PLO until his 1978 assassination in London, shortly after we had had a lunch meeting. The killing was by a breakaway faction of the PLO.
During the Holocaust Memorial Day debate last week, I thought the peace builders are often most at risk from extremists on their side of a political divide. That is the risk many accept. The saintly martyr Archbishop Oscar Romero knew his life was threatened. He was killed after proclaiming that armed forces should not fire on innocent families.
Our shared task is to help achieve lasting peace. Neighbouring states must recognise Israel. Gazans need to build a future beyond being fourth generation refugees. Help the participants find the steps to peaceful coexistence, not suffer the violence the organisers of the murderous Hamas attack last October planned would follow.
I will soon be speaking against unplanned, unwanted and unjustified building on the Goring Gap’s Chatsmore Farm. I oppose the apparent initiative to nibble at the southern gap.
This coming Saturday, at 11:45am, everyone is welcome to a gathering I have organised on Chatsmore Farm, at the junction of The Strand and Goring Street. At the gathering, we will send a clear message to the Planning Inspectors ahead of the Planning Inquiry taking place next week: NO!
We do not want our Goring Gap concreted over. We value the farmed land and the managed natural environment. That is why many in Arun and Worthing chose to call the area their home.
This week, with fellow MPs, I met Royal Mail managers to insist on reliable deliveries. Problems with essential services must be solved.
I am working with Government and Dentistry Associations on the ongoing campaign to improve dental services locally. We anticipate good news soon.
How can we overcome the rail unions’ strike habit? Few want to replace the train by a forced long walk. The Office of Rail and Road Regulation this week are hearing from me your interest in reliable roads, trains and reduced delays at level crossings. We want good services, good links and good value for money.
Choose the steps we want, choose the steps that do good.
