Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: National Emergency Briefing
National Emergency Briefing
I spent an evening in Poynings last week for a screening of the National Emergency Briefing. If you have not heard of it, it is a 45 minute film presented by Chris Packham, that sets out the scientific evidence on how climate change and nature breakdown threaten public health, food systems, national security and the economy.
Thousands of screenings are happening across the country, including in Lindfield, Burgess Hill and Hurstpierpoint in the next few weeks. You can check when and where here.
The film, although not long, is very powerful, and afterwards the audience were asked to share the feelings that the screening had evoked. It made me feel quietly furious that for decades the steps that should have been taken to slow down and minimise the impacts of climate change have not been taken. I can remember sitting in a classroom in the late 80s and being taught about the Greenhouse Effect. We’ve had time to sort this out, and the adults of today have not done what we should have done.
MPs are being asked to support a call for the Briefing to be screened on all national television channels. I have added my name supporting this Early Day Motion.
Finally, a thank you to Sheila and the team who organised the Poynings event and for making me feel so welcome.
Suicide&Co
On Friday, I met Iain Riddell to hear about his work as Suicide&Co’s Community Ambassador for Mid Sussex. The charity provides specialist support for people bereaved by suicide, including early bereavement support and counselling. Iain is working to make sure more people locally know that this help is available, and we talked about how we can raise awareness and make it easier for people to find support at an incredibly difficult time. I’m very grateful to Iain for taking the time to meet me and for the work he is doing across Mid Sussex. You can find out more about Suicide&Co and the support it offers here.
Burnham’s speech to Labour Party Conference
A lot has been written about Andy Burnham’s speech last Tuesday. I am not going to go into much detail here, but I will say this:
Andy Burnham picked a series of issues that are Liberal Democrat issues, and he put those issues front and centre of his first speech to the Labour faithful since becoming Prime Minister:
- Europe
- Voting reform
- Social care
These are bread and butter policies for us Liberal Democrats and they are key reasons why I joined the Party in the first place. I am sure that Labour’s approach will have differences with the Liberal Democrats’, but having a Prime Minister who wants to prioritise some of the things that matter to me is a good thing.
BBC Politics South East
On Sunday morning I was a panellist on the latest episode of BBC Politics South East, alongside my neighbouring MPs, Peter Lamb (Labour) and Mims Davies (Conservative). We talked about the price of fuel, the impact of Gatwick expanding and our thoughts on proposals for a tourist tax.
You can watch it on the iPlayer.
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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