South Shropshire is home to some 4,000 veterans, almost one in ten households, so remembrance brings a time of intensified emotion. During the Second World War, an outstanding group of pilots, navigators, and observers served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU). Known as Churchill's eyes in the sky, they provided invaluable visual insights that paved the way for victory in Europe. Despite having a 48% death rate, the PRU's heroic efforts have gone largely unnoticed – until now. The Spitfire AA810 Project is shining a spotlight on these unsung heroes, including our very own Denis Parry and Lionel Scargill from South Shropshire.
As a veteran, I am proud to support this incredible campaign, which aims to establish a national monument in their memory. I was also honoured to plant a tribute in Parliament's Garden of Remembrance on behalf of my constituents. The installation, organised by the Royal British Legion (RBL), will see the main entrance of Parliament filled with red poppies. Together with other charities, the RBL has transformed the life prospects of veterans for the better.
In the run up to October’s budget I raised several issues that were important to South Shropshire. This included the need for rural councils to be given more support, to maintain the freeze on fuel duty, boost defence spending, continue the support for pubs and row back on reported plans to tax farmers. While I welcome that fuel duty was indeed frozen, I have raised my concerns about the impact of changes to inheritance tax on local farms – seven out of ten family farms will be affected. On top of this, the increase to employer National Insurance will hit small businesses such as pubs incredibly hard.
As well as recent advice surgeries in Bishop’s Castle, Bridgnorth and Dorrington, I was delighted to meet with officials at Shropshire Council working on improving mobile coverage and flooding prevention. I have called on the Health Secretary to put community healthcare facilities, such as Ludlow Hospital, front and centre of plans to transform the NHS into a ‘national neighbourhood service.’ I am encouraging residents to apply for gigabit vouchers which support the installation of broadband in rural areas. In Shropshire, only a third of those eligible have applied.
As part of Road Safety Week, I am raising awareness of the need to tackle speeing, after numerous conversations on speeding concerns with John Campion, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). It was excellent to meet Morville Speed Group alongside representatives of the PCC and Dominic Stanford, who has been championing these issues. Although rural roads carry 44% of road traffic, they sadly account for 59% of road fatalities.
I know that as the weather changes, we are going to see increased flooding in South Shropshire. I used Flood Action Week to update the ‘local help’ area of my website to include advice and support for individuals and businesses. It is important that people set up flooding alerts and know how they can get help should they be affected by flooding. Do contact my office if I can be of any help.
Finally, I have been picking up the issue of protecting the countryside from over-development. Ministers announced a new housing methodology that slashes housing targets for London while doubling it in areas like Shropshire. Given cities like London have infrastructure to support development, I urge the government to pursue densification in the inner cities while enabling small-scale developments which enjoy local support in areas like ours. This would help people stay where they want to live and work while protecting our precious countryside.
In addition to this, we need the Minister to designate water companies as statutory consultees before planning permission is granted, to prevent development in areas with unsuitable water supply and drainage. This was raised with me as a factor that will help prevent flooding and sewage overflows into our rivers.
