Alicia Kearns MP – Toft cum Lound and Manthorpe Parish Council

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen appalling violence, looting, mindless vandalism and the targeting of minority communities across our country. These actions are not an understandable reaction to societal grievances, and no one should give succour to marauding thugs and criminals. The scenes we saw reflect a troubling reality: across our country there are swathes of individuals embracing hatred, intent on perpetrating self-indulgent acts of criminality driven by a desire for chaos and personal aggrandisement at the cost of others. Anyone involved in promoting, participating or inciting this criminality should face the full force of the law.

It is our collective responsibility to stand against this criminality, to stand with our police and to reinforce our British values of personal responsibility, civility, rule of law, and peaceful assembly that bind us together as a society. That does not mean sweeping away legitimate discussions and concerns around immigration, nor about integration within our country. The Government must now create a space for legitimate debate and disagreement on these issues, and take serious action – not wrap existing policies in new branding – on them as well.

I was disappointed Parliament was not recalled, as I called for publicly, as I believe we should have met as Parliament to discuss the situation, scrutinise the Government’s response, and demonstrate support for our Police. The Government sadly did not agree, and only they have the power to recall Parliament.

Let us hope this shameful chapter is behind us, and focus on how we as a country debate the issues that concern us most, in a manner consistent with our values.

All my best to you and yours -

Alicia

In today’s newsletter:

Petition: Make the A1 Safer
Mallard Pass Update: Judicial Review and Joint Statement to Ed Miliband
Protecting Our Agricultural Land
Discussing Local Priorities with the Leader and Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council
Out and About in Our Communities:
- Inspire+ Stamford Summer Camp
- Mill Farm Butchers and Shop
- Burghley House
- Tom Tugendhat Visits Rutland

Petition: Make the A1 Safer

Thank you to 500+ people who have signed my petition in the last three weeks calling on the Government and National Highways to improve the safety of the A1 between Stamford South and Little Ponton. Please do add your name here if you haven’t done so already and I will then send you a printed copy to sign so I can present it to Parliament.

I’ve been asking National Highways for urgent action for several years, so I’m relieved they are currently reviewing the A1’s central reservation crossings – a priority for us all. I also recently led an Adjournment Debate to raise our community’s concerns in Parliament, secured a further meeting with National Highways and I have written to the Transport Secretary.

There is still more I want to do, but this is an important start to tackle the dangerous central reservation crossings, short slip roads and poorly designed junctions.

Mallard Pass Update: Judicial Review and Joint Statement to Ed Miliband

As many of you may know, the hard-working Mallard Pass Action Group (MPAG) has been looking into whether we have a legal case to take Ed Miliband’s decision to approve Mallard Pass for construction to judicial review. Having reviewed the implications with many parties, including taking legal advice, they have come to the conclusion that judicial review is not a viable option. You can read more about how they arrived at this conclusion here.

Since I last reported back, I have drafted a letter to Ed Miliband with Stop Uyghur Genocide, setting out in detail the Mallard Pass developer Canadian Solar’s links to Uyghur forced labour in Xinjiang and requesting that he cancel approval for Mallard Pass. I hope to send the final statement to the Secretary of State later this month and will keep you updated. Whilst he has opted not to listen to our objections to Mallard Pass, he may struggle to ignore the voices of those who have themselves suffered directly in the Uyghur genocide and their advocates.

I will also be fighting to secure the community compensation scheme that we need, I’m not done fighting.

I know our communities are feeling shell-shocked by this decision, and very let down. I will continue to do everything I can to stand up for us, and I'm very grateful to you all for your support.

Protecting Our Agricultural Land

For three years I campaigned for greater protections for our agricultural land and for the Government to prioritise food security. However, Angela Raynor has signaled she will scrap our important reforms, she even cited Mallard Pass as a reason Labour want to change the planning rules to make it easier to build this mega-solar plant.

Ed Miliband has said the need to produce more green energy “outweighs the effectively permanent loss of food production.” This is dangerous rhetoric to follow. Going green must be done in the right way, not at the expense of our food security and farmers’ livelihoods.

I urge you all to respond to the Government’s consultation on the proposed changes to national planning rules, highlighting the need to take food security into account during construction and the importance of protections for our agricultural land.

Consultation Response Submitted on Anglian Water’s New Reservoir: Sleaford

Anglian Water’s proposals for a new Lincolnshire reservoir in Sleaford are not in our communities, however the proposals will directly impact many of our villages as it will require a significant length of pipelines to run north to south through Lincolnshire.

Having listened to your views, I raised several concerns in my response to Anglian Water’s consultation. You can read my full response here.

I look forward to discussing these reassurances with Anglian Water in coming months to ensure the communities we serve get the best possible service, with minimal possible disruption to their lives.

Discussing Local Priorities with the Leader and Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council

It was good to have my first meeting as the MP for Rutland and Stamford with Lincolnshire County Council’s Leader and Chief Executive recently.

We covered everything from social care, education provision and local Government funding, to solar policy, flooding and the safety improvements to the A1.

Out and About in Our Communities

There is very little that is more joyous than a child’s laugh, so I loved visiting Inspire+ Stamford Summer Camp recently to learn more about this charity’s incredible work. It was wonderful to see all of the activities children can take part in and we finished off the day with a chat with some of the children over lunch. It brought such joy to be with them, and all those who volunteer and work at Inspire+ are truly inspirational. They help young people aspire to all they can be, whilst providing support and protection to them over the Summer holidays – thank you for inviting me, and thank you for all you do for our children.

We are very fortunate to have so many inspiring female powerhouses in our communities and the wonderful Mill Farm Butchers family team in Manthorpe are no exception! They sell a huge range of home-fed and locally sourced meat, poultry, game, cheese, honey, eggs and lots more so do check them out, and keep an eye out for some exciting plans for the future. I so enjoyed seeing girl power in action, and their absolute passion and skill for their butchery mastery.

With just over a fortnight to go before the world-famous Burghley Horse Trials near Stamford, it was a pleasure to visit the Burghley Estate and meet with the CEO of Burghley House Preservation Trust David Pennell to see preparations in full swing. It was also a fitting time to visit as I saw the display commemorating Lord Davis Burghley, who represented Team GB in the 1924 Paris Olympics, just as Edward Lowe won a silver medal the day before as the second Stamford athlete to compete at a Paris Olympics!

It was wonderful to have Tom Tugendhat visit Tinwell at the weekend to meet Rutland and Stamford Conservatives’ members. I have invited all our leadership candidates to visit and meet with us, and I hope they take up the opportunity as it was a fantastic discussion and opportunity for members.