It is a privilege to have been your Member of Parliament. It gave me the ability to fight for the issues that we, as Conservatives, care about here in Cornwall.
Locally, we’ve delivered on my promise to be approachable
and hard-working. My office have helped nearly 50,000 constituents and
counting. There are success stories all around, from the re-opening of the Hall
for Cornwall with government funding, to UK Infrastructure Bank’s investment in
Cornish Lithium to revive our mining industry, the near-complete A30 dualling
and many smaller issues like the saving of St Mawes Pharmacy or successfully
opposing the imposition of the Gerrans Bay Seaweed Farm.
I am so proud we are building our new Women & Children’s
Hospital at Treliske, due to open in 2028. It will have maternity, paediatrics,
obstetrics & gynaecology and neonatal facilities. This is Levelling-Up in
action and a serious step to increasing the healthcare capacity for Cornwall.
Nationally, those successes are many. Those that I am most
proud of include recruiting 20,000 new police officers since we pledged to do
so in 2019. 600 of those new officers are on the streets of Devon &
Cornwall right now. We have been there when people needed us, most memorably
with the Furlough scheme which prevented destitution for many as the economy
ground to a halt with Covid. People forget, because of the freedoms of Brexit
and the decisive action of the Conservative government, Britain had the world’s
first Covid vaccine programme which saved lives and returned us quickly to
normal life.
We have supported Ukraine to fend off Russian aggression and
we have increased our defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. We are responsibly
handling the economy, with inflation down towards the 2% target, which allows
us to make the tax cuts we all want starting with 4% off National Insurance.
Vitally, we have finally passed the Safety of Rwanda Bill, in the teeth of
fierce opposition from Labour and the other minor parties. We should see
flights taking off in the near future, which should play a key part in stopping
the boats.
On a personal note, part of the reason I came into politics
was because of the grief of losing my daughter, Lily, whilst still unborn. I
feel there is still a huge taboo around discussing baby loss and there simply isn’t
enough support for families who lose children in the womb.
Given my own experiences, I was incredibly proud to champion
the government’s 2024 Pregnancy Loss Review, which made 73 recommendations to
help families losing children before 24-weeks gestation. Importantly, this
included registration and issue of a “Baby Loss Certificate” for children lost
before 24-weeks pregnancy as a recognition of a life lost, to give comfort to
parents at their lowest point.
But there is much more to do and I am seeking to be
re-elected on 4 July to continue my positive and proactive work for the good
people of Truro and Falmouth locally, as well as part of part of a Conservative
Government that has delivered for Cornwall time and time again.