Parliament is currently in recess for the Easter period so I spent last week in the constituency visiting local organisations and businesses as well as supporting the Trafford Labour local election campaign.
On Monday highlights included meeting the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the region. I had been in contact with him recently regarding a delay in the criminal justice system impacting on a constituent and we followed this up with a broader meeting to discuss the work of the CPS in Greater Manchester and across the north west. It’s clear that there’s still a backlog in the system post-covid, barrister strikes and other issues but with the rapid improvement in GMP’s performance it’s clear that the Service is busier than ever.
I also visited Trafford Park based business Cargill, which to my surprise is the third largest privately owned company in the world. I had a tour of the facility and we discussed concerns around deforestation and the work they are doing to contribute to the country’s net zero ambitions.
Continuing the business theme on Tuesday I visited Carrington Power Station who again offered a tour and we discussed their work, employment opportunities and approach to sustainability. I was also pleased on Tuesday afternoon to meet a 15 year old constituent who is campaigning to ensure students are taught an accurate and comprehensive black history curriculum. His school – Urmston Grammar – have already adopted some of his ideas (and I know other local schools already do) and I have agreed to ask the Government what plans they have to emulate the Welsh Labour Government in teaching a diverse history curriculum that gives a true picture of our history, warts and all.
On Wednesday I met with fellow local MPs, local councillors and Jim McMahon the Shadow Environment Secretary to raise awareness of the dumping of raw sewage in the River Mersey. Stretford and Urmston is in the top 100 constituencies where water companies dump the most sewage so I was glad to support Jim’s campaign to end this disgusting practice. Among other meetings I also sat down with local campaigners from Friends of the Earth, and signed up to their warm homes/energy efficiency campaign. Much of this is Labour Party policy already and I know how crucial it is that we focus on this area given the unique opportunity to both tackle the climate emergency and lower household energy bills.
On Thursday I held my advice surgery after spending the morning visiting two more local businesses. I had a tour of the Sealife Aquarium at Trafford Palazzo, a local attraction that welcomes 300,000 visitors a year. I then went on to visit Globus Group in Trafford Park. They are a longstanding PPE company headquartered in the constituency. We discussed long-term post-covid PPE production resilience as well as their plans now that we have emerged from the crisis in PPE, before they showed me some examples of their innovative designs.
On Friday and Saturday I was local election campaigning again before taking Easter Sunday as a day off. I hope that all of you have had a restful long weekend and been able to enjoy some time with friends and family.