Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: A Mid Sussex Success Story

Lindfield Village Day

I spent Saturday afternoon with the Haywards Heath Lib Dems on their ever popular tombola stall. It was great to visit some of the other gazebos and talk to organisations and charities who I have met or spoken about in Parliament over the winter. 

I was also pleased to bump into Val who I mentioned in the House of Commons a couple of weeks ago after she asked me about the government’s plans for VJ Day.

A Mid Sussex Success Story

On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Bolney Wine Estate – a real highlight in Mid Sussex and a great example of local hospitality and innovation. 

Now part of Freixenet Copestick, Bolney is producing award-winning English wines using a mix of traditional methods and forward-thinking sustainability. Their success both with major UK retailers like Tescos and international markets is impressive. We also discussed the recent end of the ‘wine easement’ – a tax change that brings extra costs and complexity for producers and consumers alike. 

A big thank you to the Bolney team for such a warm, informative visit.

Nicky Campbell’s MPs’ Panel

I joined Mims Davies and Rosie Wrighting on Nicky Campbell’s MPs’ Panel on BBC Radio 5 Live. During a wide ranging conversation, I was able to set out why we must scrap the two child benefit cap. You can listen to the whole show on BBC Sounds from 10am / one hour in.

An extra thing to listen to

Finally, this week I really enjoyed listening to the two-part interview with Ed Miliband on The Rest is Politics: Leading. I always enjoy learning about someone’s back story, and part 1 about Ed’s early life was a great listen. However, in part 2, Ed gave a staunch defence of the drive for Net Zero. In a time when the siren calls dismiss the climate crisis, sometimes branding it ‘Net Stupid’, I really welcomed hearing the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero robustly making the case for tackling the climate crisis head on. 

Getting in touch

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch.

Best wishes,
Alison

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