Campaigns and issues can last for ages; I have been involved with many, some by choice, some by chance. Alan Bates, a sub postmaster for five years until 2003, has campaigned since then. He spoke on Tuesday to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. The Post Office knew the Horizon system was not perfect, not fully reliable. Why were wrong actions continued for so long?
The Infected blood inquiry, running since 2018, reports in May: compensation proposals have already been published. Dame Diana Johnson MP and I work together cross-party for justice. Lessons? Never stop campaigning to make possible things that are right. Do not worry if people do not always understand. Be prepared to work with a few for the many. Understand the vulnerabilities of others.
The Leasehold Reform Bill is in the House of Lords. It corrects some unjustified and unnecessary injustices faced by too many residential leaseholders. My decades of campaigning built on efforts by a local constituent, cooperating with Leasehold Knowledge Partnership’s Sebastian O’Kelly and Martin Boyd, and retired MP Jim Fitzpatrick.
On Monday I welcomed to Westminster a family from Ferring, celebrating their seven-year-old son’s successful design for a Christmas card to the King. The image is a white light in the middle of yellow and blue swirls, a simple building frame around someone kneeling at the manger, below two stars in the sky.
The winner’s sister attends Goring’s Romero school. Julian Filochowski involved me over forty years ago in nominating Archbishop Oscar Romero for the Nobel Peace Prize as he stood to defend the vulnerable and the oppressed. Julian supports the Archbishop Romero Trust, with its online resources on the modern Saint’s life and martyrdom.
Next week we expect the concluding report by paediatric consultant Dr Hilary Cass, appointed by NHS England and NHS Improvement to chair the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for children and young people. Reliable research is needed to avoid ruining the lives of vulnerable children who may have complex conditions that need professional attention.
While understanding people who are or think they are oriented or gendered in different ways, it is clear sex is determined at conception, not assigned at birth. A woman is an adult female. There are reasons for females to compete with women, not with males. It is inappropriate for a man to self-declare as female to change from being a mediocre male athlete to towering over females. There are reasons for female only spaces (hospital or prison wards, changing rooms and lavatories): a man should not expect to be welcomed by asserting a changed gender.
Russ Cook, the hardest geezer, has completed his run from the south to the north of Africa, celebrating with a swim in the Mediterranean. He should raise £1 million for The Running Charity, helping people experiencing homelessness or managing complex needs, and The Sandblast charity, promoting greater understanding of the Saharawi people in the UK and with skills development in the Saharawi refugee camps. I cooperated with Jeremy Corbyn, independent MP now, in the parliamentary group for Western Sahara, highlighting their right to self-determination and to promote their human rights. My contribution is in.
I started campaigning to protect the seabed in Sussex Bay when first elected to represent the interests of the new Worthing West constituency . Three years ago, the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority protected much of the seabed from trawling. The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project is the UK’s largest marine rewilding. Mussel beds are returning. The ecosystem takes time to recover fully after decades of destructive practices.
This Friday, with councillors I will be meeting locals at the Angmering Manor hotel. If you would like to meet, come at midday. There are other opportunities: just let me know. I had already met home producer Steve Winterberg at Goring market.
