Since 1948, the NHS has been the envy of the world. It has delivered huge medical advances and improvements to public health. It is thanks to the NHS that we have all but eradicated diseases such as polio and diphtheria, and pioneered new treatments like the world’s first liver, heart and lung transplant.

The NHS continues to drive innovations in patient care, including mechanical thrombectomy to improve stroke survival, bionic eyes to restore sight, and surgical breakthroughs such as hand transplants. Looking to the future, the NHS is becoming more integrated and investing in new medicines, genetic research and digital technologies like apps and artificial intelligence, which will ensure we continue to live longer and healthier lives.

But none of this would be possible without the skill, dedication and compassion of NHS staff, as well as the many volunteers, charities and communities that support the service – whether it’s the midwives who deliver us into the world, the GPs and pharmacists who advise and treat us, the nurses, doctors and other clinicians who come to our aid when the unexpected happens, the porters who keep our hospitals moving, or the volunteers who give up their time to support and challenge services to improve.

The NHS Parliamentary Awards is our way to thank those extraordinary NHS staff at the frontline who have devoted their lives to caring for us. I’m delighted to be participating in the NHS Parliamentary Awards because I know from speaking to staff and patients in Warwick and Leamington that there are some excellent and innovative things going on locally. Over the coming weeks I want to hear about the best of the best.

There are ten categories, covering key areas such as mental health and primary care, as well as a Lifetime Achievement award for someone who has contributed to the success of the NHS for 40 years or more.

Information on how to nominate is available at– http://www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk/how-nominate-0

The nomination window closes on April 26rd, so please get them in to me before 5pm on Thursday 25th at matt.western.mp@parliament.uk.

See categories below and for further information visit:

http://www.nhsparliamentaryawards.co.uk/

 

Categories and criteria

 

The NHS Parliamentary Awards are designed to celebrate the work of all NHS staff and those who work alongside them to improve and join up care in their communities.

We are looking for outstanding nominees who have innovated, impressed and made a real difference to how the health and care system provides care for patients. Nominees could be an individual, a team, or an entire organisation.

They don’t have to be working within the NHS – these awards are for anyone working for or with the NHS towards the shared goal of delivering health and high-quality care, now and for future generations.

Neither do they have to be in frontline or clinical roles. Around 60% of the NHS workforce perform vital but often-unseen roles ensuring that the NHS is there to meet the needs of patients. and many more people support patients in other ways, such as via their local Healthwatch, social enterprises or charities.

MPs are asked to nominate in the categories listed below. In all but the Lifetime Achievement Award, the questions to be answered on the nomination form are:

• What has been done? – detail the improvements made and why.
• Who benefitted? – detail how many patients/communities and/or staff has this had a positive impact on, including particular groups where applicable, and to what extent.
• What happens next? – detail how this improvement can be sustained and/or developed further or shared with others locally, regionally or nationally to benefit more patients and/or staff.

Questions to be answered when nominating for the Lifetime Achievement Award:

• Outline this person’s career/relationship with, or supporting, the NHS.
• How have they made the NHS better for patients?
• How have they made the NHS better for past, present and future staff?

1.1      The Excellence in Healthcare Award [New for 2019]

The top causes of early death for the people of England are: heart disease and stroke, cancer, respiratory conditions, dementias, and self-harm. This award recognises individuals or teams who go above and beyond to improve outcomes and experience for patients living with and beyond these major health conditions or work to prevent them.

This could be through:

• establishing a new process to identify and prevent major conditions earlier
• developing effective ways to share and spread awareness of a major health condition
• working with patients and their families to supporting people to stay well and recover in their own homes, with the right support in place in their communities.

1.2      The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a roadmap to increase investment in mental health and expand and improve our mental health services.

This plan is being delivered across England and the increase in investment is providing: improved access to high quality services: with an additional 380,000 people per year able to access talking therapies for common disorders, 345,000 more children and young people will be able to access NHS support, and 24,000 more women able to access specialist perinatal mental health services.

This transformation of services would not be possible without the people who are making it happen. This award intends to highlight those individuals or teams who are the forefront of developing improvements in the support available to those with or at risk of mental ill health and showcase the steps taken to safeguard mental wellbeing.

This could be through:

• developing new and effective kinds of services for those experiencing or at risk of crisis;
• working with local partners to put in place effective prevention strategies that promote better mental health, or;
• working with their communities to address stigma and help design services for those who are hardest to reach, reducing health inequalities.

1.3      The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award

We all want to know that the NHS will be there for us and our families when we need it the most – to provide urgent and emergency care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff are working with great skill and dedication to do so and looking after more patients than ever. Each year the NHS provides around 110million urgent same-day patient contacts. in providing nine out of ten patients with A&E care within four hours- the UK offers our patients the fastest national A&E treatment of any major industrialised country.

This award seeks to celebrate the amazing work of our emergency care services across the country – whether that’s A&E doctors and nurses, Ambulance Service paramedics and technicians, out-of-hours GPs or the 999 and 111 teams who take calls from worried members of the public. We are looking specifically for nominees who have made improvements to how the NHS treats people who need urgent care in their areas.

This could be through:

• developing new protocols, including working with other agencies and/or volunteers to improve response times or increase capacity in A&E;
• increasing the effectiveness of care, or;
• putting in place different services which are more convenient for people needing urgent treatment.

1.4      The Excellence in Primary Care Award

Primary care services provide the first point of contact in the healthcare system, acting as the ‘front door’ of the NHS for the public. GPs in particular have one of the highest public satisfaction ratings of any public service, at over 85%. GPs provide over 300 million patient consultations each year, but many more patients also rely on community pharmacy, dental, and optometry services for initial and ongoing support.

As the needs of patients and the wider NHS evolves, so is the role of primary care. This award seeks to recognise primary care practitioners and teams that are working with patients to help them stay healthy and avoid long stays in hospital or being admitted in the first place.

This could be through:

• bringing in different kinds of professionals and/or working with the voluntary and community groups to broaden the range of services in their local practice
• working closely with colleagues in hospitals, community teams and the third sector to plan patient care better
• joining together with other practises to jointly deliver more convenient appointments for patients.

1.5      The Future NHS Award

Many important healthcare technologies – from vaccines to MRI scanners – have been nurtured by our strong science base and universities, innovative culture and leading healthcare system.

This award seeks to highlight individuals, teams and organisations that are successfully embracing the opportunities that come from advances in medical technology, data and connectivity.

This could be through:

• developing ways of using wearable devices and apps to monitor patients or support them to manage their own conditions;
• harnessing technology to make their services more connected, efficient and effective, freeing up staff time and resources to improve patient care, or;
• using data to provide analysis and evidence which helps professionals better target services to prevent ill health or the need for crisis care.

1.6      The Health Equalities Award [New for 2019]

The social and economic environment in which we are born, grow up, live, work and age, as well as the decisions we make for ourselves and our families collectively have a bigger impact on our health than health care alone. We know there is more we can do to prevent or delay ill health and treat people quicker.

This award is for an individual or organisation that helps the NHS to do its bit by bringing together different groups and organisations to reduce health inequalities and prevent ill health in their community.

This could be through:

• developing new services for groups that traditionally struggle to access the NHS
• working with partners to plan services across an area to improve the health and wellbeing of those who suffer poorer outcomes – rather than on picking up the pieces afterwards.
• Finding new ways to identify and tackle unwarranted variation

1.7      The Care and Compassion Award

The very best experiences of the NHS do not come simply in being able to perform the latest cutting-edge interventions. They also come from putting patients at the heart of care, engaging patients and families, listening to their views, and ensuring people are treated with care and compassion.

This award is for those individuals, teams and organisations who make it an over-riding priority to treat patients with kindness, dignity and respect as an equal partner in their own care.

This could be through:

• changing how healthcare staff communicate with patients and their families
• driving improvements to care environments to make them dementia-friendly or generally more pleasant places for patients and their loved ones
• ensuring that patients and their families are well-informed and empowered to play an active role in deciding what type of care they receive.

1.8      The Wellbeing at Work Award [New for 2019]

For the NHS Long Term Plan to succeed, we need to ensure we have enough people, in the right place with the right skills and experience, so that staff have the time they need to care for patients well. This award is for the person or team that has successfully trialled and implemented change(s) that have made the NHS a better place to work.

This could be through

• designing new approaches to address issues in the recruitment and retention of staff
• developing safe, confidential non-stigmatising services for staff to turn to when they are struggling and need help
• finding new ways for staff to progress in within their roles
• leading the charge in efforts to address discrimination, violence, bullying and harassment

1.9      The Volunteer of the Year [New for 2019]

The NHS has always embraced volunteering as a means of uniting hospitals with their communities and enabling the public to give something back.

Volunteers are not a substitute for staff. But volunteers can do things staff cannot: spending all day, for example, with someone at the end of life or using their lived experience as a patient to help people learn to live and thrive with a painful condition.

This award looks to celebrate those members of the public who give up their time and lend their experiences to help shape and deliver better services for themselves and others in their area. We are looking for individuals or local groups, such as a local Healthwatch or lay/patient representatives on NHS boards, who have worked hand in hand with local services to ensure they better meet the needs of those they serve.

This could be through:

• providing critical but constructive feedback on performance
• augmenting the NHS’ ability to reach out to different communities
• fundraising for new or improved facilities or treatment options.

1.10   The Lifetime Achievement Award

For an individual who has worked within a health or care setting for 40 years or more who has left a legacy.

This award seeks to honour those who have dedicated their lives to working in the NHS, and have left it – whether just in their area or nationally – a better service for patients and/or a better place to work for those who will follow them. We are looking for someone who has worked or volunteered within or in support of a health or care setting for 40 years or more, and who has left a lasting legacy.

This could be through:

• championing diversity and inclusion at work and in how the NHS treats patients
• leading improvements in care or working conditions in challenging circumstances,
• simply bringing a smile to patients’ faces day in and day out.

Questions to be answered when nominating:

• Outline this person’s career/relationship with, or supporting, the NHS
• How have they made the NHS better for patients?
• How have they made the NHS better for past, present and future staff?

NB – 40 years’ service does not need to be continuous, for the same organisation, or entirely in a paid capacity.

 

At the time of writing it seems the Government will request a further delay to Brexit, for up to a year, simply because the Government cannot get its Brexit deal through Parliament and the Prime Minister left it too late.

Since December, the PM has tried repeatedly to force her deal through Parliament and failed. It has been a strategy of extreme brinkmanship while seeking to diminish Parliamentary scrutiny of her deal. MPs of all parties see it as a bad deal, as it doesn’t protect the economy and threatens the Good Friday Agreement.

Although I favour remaining in the EU, I have been one of many MPs who were willing to find a compromise in this process in order to try and start reuniting our country. For example, I voted for options which advocated a customs union, the single market and customs union, a second referendum, and revoking article 50 to avoid a ‘no-deal’ (i.e. reverting to World Trade Organisation terms of trade – seriously less advantageous to those we enjoy today). Unfortunately, many Conservatives voted down all options or solely voted for no-deal. Liberal Democrats and the Independent Group were unwilling to vote for softer Brexit deals.

I hope that cross-party talks between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn can produce a way forward, but there has been little sign of compromise from the Government. Any deal should be put back to the people to ensure it is what the country wants and have written to my party leader outlining this.

Many of you will remember the case of Alfie Dingley and the campaign to allow families access to medicinal cannabis to treat illnesses such as severe epilepsy. It is a campaign I have supported this past year. The Government changed the law as a result of the campaign. However, this has not translated into a real change for families trying to access these medicines – I will continue to lend my voice to those calling for this situation to be resolved.

Parents from across Warwickshire have gathered in Leamington to discuss what many are calling a “national crisis” in funding for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The public meeting at the town hall was part of a campaign for more funding and support for SEND children and preceded a rally, which will take place in the spring.

Campaigners have said that over the last five years, special education needs’ budgets within schools have been hit by multi-million pound cuts in England and warnings of a ‘national crisis’ set to affect thousands of children and young people with disabilities across the country have been voiced by many teachers and parents. Parent Simon O’Hara said: “Schools are caught in a loop of no funding. “Where a school is seriously committed to meeting the needs of all its children, the current funding for SEND makes it almost impossible to do that. “Central government has to do better. “These are our children. “They deserve the best and they should get the best.”

The meeting raised the issue that Central Government funding cuts have left local authorities with insufficient money to fulfil their legal obligations to SEND pupils. Currently many children, 20 in Warwickshire, are not able to attend school due to lack of places and support within schools. Latest official figures show the number of pupils with SEND nationally has increased for a second consecutive year and they represent 14.6 per cent of pupils, up from 14.4 per cent last year.

Pupils with SEND are six times more likely to be excluded from school and account for almost half of all permanent exclusions. Chair of the meeting Emma Mort, Warwickshire NEU joint district secretary and NEU National Executive member, commented, ‘it was heart breaking to hear from so many parents about how the reality of the crisis in SEND funding and support impacts on them.

The meeting was a first step in a campaign to ensure that schools and local services are properly funded and that all children can access the education they deserve.’ During the meeting parents, teachers, headteachers, councillors and Leamington and Warwick’s MP Matt Western called on the Education Secretary Damian Hinds and Chancellor Philp Hammond to increase funding to local authorities to ease pressure on SEND budgets. County councillor Helen Adkins (Labour, Leamington Willes) said: “I know that Warwickshire County Council officers are doing everything they can to ensure that our SEND children receive the support and provision they are entitled to within the limits of the budget they have, but the Tory leadership should be making more noise about the crisis schools are facing and should be asking for more money from Central Government.”

The group SEND Warwickshire will be holding a rally starting at the Pump Room Gardens on Thursday May 30. Further information is available on the Facebook page – SEND National Crisis March Warwickshire.

There is also a petition titled Increase SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) which can be accessed here:

https://www.change.org/p/philip-hammond-increase-send-special-educational-needs-and-disability-funding-bd1a62a3-062e-40d3-8dcd-a40fbbfce6d7?recruiter=366089000&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western is calling for the Government to increase funding to local authorities in order to ease pressure on SEND budgets. He said: “Austerity is nowhere near over, even though the Government are claiming it is. “Schools are struggling with increased pressures, such as extra contributions to national insurance, pension contributions and the apprenticeship levy. “They have no money left to adequately deal with SEND students’ needs. “They need extra money for this, not less. “When will the Prime Minster end austerity and increase funding to schools and Local Authorities?’ The Department for Education has announced that 37 special and two alternative provision schools for SEND children or pupils excluded from mainstream schools, are to be built across England – creating 3,500 places. But Paul Whiteman, general secretary of headteachers’ union NAHT, said: “This money will only go so far and funding shortages in schools go much further and deeper.”

I recently met with Geography students at Myton to discuss their views on climate change. It was great to hear the students’ views on how our country should be tackling this emergency. Climate change will affect us all, but it’s ultimately the next generation that will be hit the hardest. I have asked the Leader of the House of Commons if she would agree to urgently schedule a debate on climate change during Government time.

A petition has been launched calling for ‘Rowan’s Law’, to limit bus drivers’ hours in response to the Coventry bus crash in 2015 which killed seven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald from Leamington. Rowan’s family have been doing amazing work, collecting over 1100 signatures so far, but we want as many names as possible to present to the Transport Minister when we meet with her in early May. Please sign and share the petition if you can:

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister and her Government continue to make a mess of Brexit. Having said that we will absolutely be leaving on 29^th March, this now will not happen because there is no support for her flawed deal.  Instead, she confirmed we will now leave either on 12^th April if no deal can be agreed, 22^nd May if the PM’s deal is agreed, or much later if a different solution is found. The Prime Minister has acted in isolation, alienating MPs from the process. For many weeks I have been working with colleagues – including Conservatives – to try and find consensus. Thankfully, MPs from all Parties have now voted to take control of this Brexit process to find a compromise.

Finally, may I thank some local public sector workers who are retiring after many years’ dedicated service, who I worked with during my time as a Councillor. They include David Carter and John Linnane from Warwickshire County Council and Andy Hickmott from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. On behalf of the community, if I may, our thanks to you.

On Wednesday 13^th February Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, introduced a Parliamentary Bill that seeks to limit the driving hours worked by bus drivers on local routes, to prevent bus crashes caused through driver fatigue.

The Bill has been introduced in response to the Coventry bus crash in 2015 which killed seven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald from Leamington and 76-year-old Dora Hancox from Nuneaton. The driver had been working 70+ hour weeks leading up to the crash and was judged to be the critical factor in the trial of the bus driver and company that followed.

The British laws which regulate bus drivers’ hours on local routes (of less than 50km) limit driving to 10 hours a day, with no weekly or fortnightly limit except that in any two consecutive weeks there must be at least one period of 24 hours off duty. This means it is legal for a local bus driver to drive 130 hours over a period of two weeks. On average, local bus drivers currently work nearly six hours per week more than average workers. Under EU law however, a long-distance bus driver or lorry driver cannot drive more than 56 hours a week, or more than 90 hours over any two consecutive weeks.

The Bill seeks to change the law so that driving hours for local bus drivers are capped at 56 hours a week, and no more than 90 hours over any two consecutive weeks, as it already is for long distance bus drivers and lorry drivers.

As the Bill is a 10-Minute Rule Bill, it is unlikely to pass into law at this stage, but campaigners hope that this will be the first step in a big push to get the Government to adopt the legislation. The Bill already has the support of the Shadow Chancellor, Shadow Transport Secretary, the Chair of the Transport Select Committee, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, Brake and others.

Says Matt Western MP, “I am pleased to introduce this Bill in Parliament. I was shocked to hear of the case with the Coventry bus crash a few years ago and have been working with Rowan’s family since late last year on this issue. Our laws around working hours for local bus drivers clearly aren’t keeping the public safe and it’s time to legislate to make sure another two people aren’t killed the next time a bus driver is asked to work too many hours than is safe.”

A statement from the family of 7-year old Rowan’s Fitzgerald who was killed in the crash says, “We strongly feel that there should be a change to the current law. If this proposal had been in place on the 3rd October 2015, then perhaps our beautiful boy Rowan Fitzgerald, and the pedestrian, Mrs. Dora Hancox, who were both killed in this tragic bus crash, would be alive today.”

 

Last Friday Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, met with representatives from the Ahmadiyya mosque, Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club (RLSCC) and Leamington LAMP to discuss the long-term future of their venues, and others including the St. Patrick’s Club, located in the clublands area to the west of Adelaide Road in Leamington.

 

The area was initially included in Warwick District’s Councils plans for a ‘Creative Quarter’, which threw their short-term future into doubt. The Council have since removed the area from the masterplan after consultation with businesses and residents, but the long-term future of the venues are still at stake.

 

Matt Western MP has pledged to work closely with the venues and Warwick District Council to provide for their long-term security in these venues.

 

Says Matt Western MP, “I am pleased that Warwick District Council have listened to the wishes of these communities based in the clublands area, though I find it hard to see how it was ever a good idea to include these areas in the Creative Quarter plans. It cannot be right to bring uncertainty to the future of a religious venue like this, and I see no sensible alternative venue for an organisation like the canoe club.

 

The meeting with representatives from those community venues on Friday was productive and I hope to help secure their long-term leases on the site so that their good work can continue in Leamington for years to come.”

On Wednesday I presented a Bill that seeks to limit the driving hours worked by bus drivers on local routes. If implemented, I hope it will go some way to preventing a repeat of the Coventry bus crash in 2015 which killed seven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald from the local area. The fact that the driver had been working 70+ hour weeks leading up to the crash was undoubtedly the critical factor that led to this accident. I believe this tragedy could have been avoided if driving hours for local bus drivers were capped at 56 hours a week, and no more than 90 hours over any two consecutive weeks, as it already is for long distance bus drivers and lorry drivers.

 

Last Friday I spoke in Parliament in a debate on rough sleeping. Progress has been made by Warwick District Council since I hosted a homelessness summit last March, with the opening of a new homeless hostel in Lillington (for which I was pleased to help the Council secure funding), but there is a long way to go to end rough sleeping in our community. I pay tribute to the great work of Leamington Night Shelter, LWS Night Shelter, Helping Hands and others for all the work they do year-round to support rough sleepers locally.

 

Councils have been told by Central Government they’ll have to implement yet more brutal cuts in the coming financial year. This means worse roads, inadequate social care and less affordable housing. At the same time, Warwickshire County Council voted through a 5% increase in council tax last week. This means local taxpayers will be paying more and getting less.

 

On Sunday I attended a commemoration in Barford to local working-class hero, Joseph Arch. Joseph was an agricultural worker who led the formation of the first national agricultural union in the 1870s and improved working conditions and pay for workers across the country. We should celebrate such a significant local figure much more than we do currently and so I welcome initiatives like this that seek to do so.

 

As ever, I can be contacted by email at ‘matt.western.mp@parliament.uk’ or you can ring my office on 01926 882006.

 

Like many in Parliament, I have completely lost faith in the Prime Minister’s handling of the Brexit negotiations and her failure to try and bring this country back together. Her priority appears to be maintaining her Party while all the while the UK is haemorrhaging business investment, consumer confidence falls, and growth has stalled. The situation is so serious, particularly for business.

My party, Labour, has now come out in favour of holding a second referendum, with an option to remain in the EU. Labour have tried hard throughout this process to soften the Prime Minister’s approach, but these efforts have been repeatedly ignored. The Prime Minister is determined to take things down to the wire and blackmail MPs into voting for her disastrous deal. As it’s almost inevitable that the Prime Minister’s deal will be rejected, I am pleased that Labour have committed to putting the issue back to the people. This uncertainty is now really hurting businesses and consumer confidence and needs to be resolved.

The Prime Minister has now announced that MPs will vote again on her deal by 12^th March, and that if her deal is voted down again, that MPs will be given a vote on whether to pursue a reckless no-deal Brexit or to delay the negotiations by extending Article 50. At least the Prime Minister has accepted the huge pressure from Labour, businesses and others and MPs will be given the option to prevent a disastrous no-deal.

Last week in Parliament I spoke in a debate about the Government’s plans to strike new trade deals after we leave the EU, with countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. I asked is it not more sensible to prioritise the customers on our doorstep? When I did a paper round, I always thought that it was better to do the paper round on my own street, rather than on the other side of the village; maybe I am wrong. The EU is by far our biggest market and we should prioritise trade with our closest neighbours. I also raised concerns of our farmers, manufacturing sectors and NHS that would likely be opened up to overwhelming competition from US commercial interests and industrial-scale farming.

The Prime Minister’s Brexit deal has been voted down by the House of Commons, in the worst defeat ever suffered by a Government. MPs from across the House were united in voting against what is seen to be a disastrous proposal, not just the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement but because there is no detail or clarity in our future arrangements as described in the Political Declaration. 

I have always said that seeking to retain the benefits of both the Customs Union?and?the Single Market is vital to protecting jobs, businesses and the economy.  The Prime Minister’s deal simply did not deliver this. It would have been extremely damaging to our constituency, in particular to manufacturing and jobs, and so I voted against it. 

432 out of 650 MPs of all political persuasions decided they also could not vote for the deal – humiliating on all counts. The Prime Minister acted in isolation during these botched negotiations. She side-lined Parliament and the divisions in her Cabinet and across her own benches are real and now evident. 

The deal is now dead. What happens next is unclear. On Wednesday my Party, Labour, put in for a Vote of No Confidence. It is quite clear that were it not for the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, this Prime Minister and this Government would not be still in place. In any event, I think that whatever deal may be acceptable to the majority in Parliament, a second referendum on this against the option to remain is necessary to ensure this is what the public are seeking.  

Last week I attended the launch of Shelter’s Vision for Social Housing report. It makes the argument that the housing crisis can only be solved through building a lot more social homes – 3.1 million over the next 20 years. I wholeheartedly endorse its conclusions and it presents a welcome challenge to all parties to drastically improve their housing policies to make house prices and rents more affordable and eradicate homelessness. 

 

I’ve just been interviewed by ITV Central News for this evening’s programme, regarding the job cuts and transformation plan announced by Jaguar Land Rover this afternoon.

Above all my thoughts are with the families and communities that could be impacted in our local area and across the West Midlands. The announcement will lead to lots of uncertainty for employees, but I understand JLR are looking to early retirement and voluntary redundancy options to help mitigate some of the impact.

As I have been warning for sometime, the automotive industry is facing several strong headwinds which include declining sales in China and significant falls in diesel sales – the latter is an issue I raised in Parliament last March and subsequently wrote to the Chancellor on with other MPs, asking him to consider reforming the damaging diesel taxes introduced in the 2017 Budget. JLR is affected more than most by falling diesel sales. Unfortunately, the Government has been too slow to act.

While the impact of Brexit in this case should not be overstated, it is undeniable that the disastrous way the Government has handled the Brexit negotiations has resulted in two years of deep uncertainty for businesses such as Jaguar Land Rover. It is now essential that a ‘No Deal’ Brexit is ruled out to avoid damaging JLR even more.

This will be a tough period for JLR and I cannot emphasise how much I feel for employees who may be impacted by this announcement, but I am hopeful that the company can transition, particularly with its commitment to an electric future. It is vital for our area that the company can thrive.

I will be following the developments closely in the coming days and will keep constituents informed. Naturally, I will be working closely with JLR management, trade unions, and Parliamentary colleagues over the coming days. I would encourage any concerned employees to contact me directly.