Sat at my desk with a busy three days ahead in Westminster, before I head north for 2 weeks.
Tomorrow we have the big LA7 debate to created the North East Combined Authority, which I support and have campaigned at length to make happen. I shall be speaking in the short debate between 4.30-6. Writing my short speech now.
I also have a Justice and Home Affairs debate tomorrow, plus the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Parliamentary Reception, which I hope to be able to go to. In the evening I will be hoping to fit in a meeting with some of the Better Together team, who will be down in Westminster Monday evening.
Tuesday sees Foreign Office Questions, followed by a series of debates and meetings concerning credit unions. I am particularly looking forward to a meeting with Sir Hector Sants, Chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Credit Union Task Group; Sir Hector is seeking input from interested parties on the Church’s role supporting the growth of credit unions as part of a more competitive financial sector which encourages responsible lending and saving. The meeting is in Committee Room 14, Palace of Westminster, 4-6pm.
Wednesday is busy with PMQs, the end of the Finance Bill in Committee, and a series of meetings with a 7 pm finish and I will then sprint for the 8 o'clock train to Northumberland.
Once back home I have a multitude of meetings and visits over the next 10days, which I will blog about in more detail later in the week.
