Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Tuesday, 2:00pm

I was delighted to be joined at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster Hall by Revd. Will Kemp the Vicar of St Andrew's Church in Burgess Hill, and Revd. Daniel Valentine the Vicar of Cuckfield and Bolney.

Tuesday, 2:00pm

I spent Tuesday in a large basement conference room of a hotel as a member of one of the Expert Reference Groups for the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.

Late morning, an MP showed me the alert on their phone that Nigel Farage was going to make a statement about his ‘political future’ at 2.00pm. We all know now that the statement was Farage’s decision to resign as an MP in order to trigger a by-election in which he would stand and seek re-election. 

Here is the text of a Whatsapp message that I sent to a group of Mid Sussex Lib Dem volunteers:

“I am spending most of today in a room with the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce hearing about how the state has let perinatal services slide to a point where babies die who could have been saved, women suffer permanent harms and children end up with lifelong disabilities. 

“In this room there are cross party MPs (none from Reform) who have committed themselves to making perinatal services better. 

“This is the real work of MPs, quietly not for the glamour or the notoriety and Farage is a disgrace.”

I wish Count Binface every success in Clacton on Thursday 13th August.

Thank you for sharing your experiences of corridor care

Last week, I asked you to share with me your experiences of corridor care in the NHS to help me prepare for a debate in the Commons. Thank you so much for telling me your stories and for trusting me with some of the most frightening, painful and vulnerable moments of your lives.  

You can watch (at 16:42:16) or read the whole debate online, and here is a short clip from my speech. 

When you are put on a five minute speaking limit, it’s hard not being able to say everything that you may wish to, so please know that I am sorry I was not able to retell everyone’s experiences. A number of people have requested a meeting with me, and my staff will be getting in touch to set up times to have those conversations.

Work experience

It was great to welcome three sixth form students into my office last week for work experience. As well as a day in Westminster, back in the Mid Sussex office they did a great job of helping prepare some events that I have planned for later in the year.

If you are a sixth form student living in Mid Sussex, or know someone who may be interested, please do get in touch from September to ask about work experience with my office next summer.

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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