Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, has spoken in the House of Commons in the last debate before the House rises for summer recess. You can watch him speaking here.
Speaking in Matters to be raised before the forthcoming Adjournment, Richard thanked his constituents who have gone the extra mile during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Richard thanked staff in local hospitals at Weardale and Shotley Bridge, doctors and those working in care homes who have kept our communities safe, Hunger Hangout in Leadgate, Glenroyd House who have been making scrubs and helping organise and deliver food parcels and all the local groups from places like Maiden Law and Wearhead who have worked so hard to support each other.
Richard also thanked Government Ministers who have been to visit North West Durham in recent months and said that he is looking forward to hosting more Ministers in the coming months. Richard has received a commitment from a Defence Minister to visit the constituency (read about this here), a commitment from the Health Secretary to visit Shotley Bridge Hospital as part of Richard’s campaign to get new and improved health services in North West Durham (read about this here) and Richard has invited a Minister from the Department for Education to visit Derwentside College, following Richard’s visit earlier this year which you can read about here.
Richard spoke about his two key campaigns for the constituency – a replacement to Shotley Bridge Hospital which you can read further details about here and his campaign to get a new railway for the constituency and his bid for a feasibility study into this, which you can read about here.
Richard also spoke about his work with the Public Accounts Committee, particularly the work that he has done on gambling and gambling related harm, which you can read about here. Richard stated that he is hopeful that the Government will bring forward legislation later this year to look at how the Gambling Act can be improved upon to protect those who have been seriously negatively impacted by gambling, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.
Finally, Richard thanked the Government for listening to him on his successful campaign to reverse the motorhomes tax, which was a particularly personal campaign for Richard as North West Durham is one of the biggest motorhome producers in the UK with companies such as Elddis based in the area. You can read about Richard’s campaign on this here. He also spoke about his campaign to get the toilet tax scrapped, which will save local councils across the country hundreds of thousands of pounds. You can read about this here.
Commenting, Richard said ‘It has been an incredibly challenging and busy period for everyone across the country and I was really glad I had the opportunity to stand up in Parliament and thank everyone in North West Durham for their hard work and commitment to looking after the community over the past few months. I know it hasn’t been easy, but people have gone above and beyond in keeping themselves and other people safe and I know that they are continuing to do so. Each and every one of you deserves recognition for all that you have done and the sacrifices you have made. I am really looking forward to spending the next few weeks in the constituency – if any of you have any issues or queries or just want a chat about something please do get in touch as I’d be delighted to see as many of you as possible.’
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