As I said last week the North East Space conference took place at Durham last Wednesday, this was an opportunity for the businesses of the north to showcase themselves. It was a very successful and well attended event with a number of representatives from both Government departments and significant businesses with the potential to help us develop and grow this sector. The team at Business Durham deserve huge credit for arranging this and I was delighted to be able to support them. The event was led and managed by Elaine Scott and her team who are part of the department led by Amy Harhoff, Durham County Council’s corporate Director for regeneration, economy and growth. Along with Amy, Councillor Amanda Hopgood, Leader of Durham County Council, welcomed everyone to the event. The following day I met Amy again to encourage progress on the Levelling Up bid for Newton Aycliffe, she shared the work and efforts of her team and we will meet again in a few weeks to see further developments.
Friday was then a day I was able to get out and about, first to Hydram, an incredible engineering business based in Chilton and then to Tekmar, another of the world leading businesses on Aycliffe industrial estate. Visiting these businesses gives me the opportunity to listen to them and make representations on policy that could help them. After Tekmar, I then headed up to Newcastle to record the edition of Sunday Politics that was broadcast last week, where I emphasised the need for us to be sure that the UK engages fully in its support for Ukraine. Clearly, it’s the countries bordering Ukraine, like Poland, who are front and central in support because of geography, and we need to help them. We are further down the support channel for people coming here. It is likely that most Ukrainians will want to stay closer to their home country, but whilst we clearly need to be aware of security risks, we must also facilitate clear and simple routes to play our part.
On Friday evening I attended the Sedgefield Mayor’s Ball which provided a chance to talk to a number of constituents and this week sees another opportunity as the Aycliffe Mayor’s ball takes place.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London have heard about the readiness of UK-based people to support humanitarian aid efforts in Poland for those affected by the war in Ukraine and have expressed their gratitude for the assistance provided by many entities and individuals. The Polish Embassy has asked everyone wishing to help not to organise further collections of in-kind donations, as their transport to Poland – followed by a lengthy unloading, storage, selection and distribution procedure – generates disproportionate amounts of additional work and cost, which proves ineffective and counterproductive to the needs of those affected. The Embassy are encouraging everyone wishing to help to organise fundraisers and direct donations of funds to verified organisations that will use the funds received for assistance provided in accordance with the strict needs and effective operation in the long term. DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) are providing support in the UK and you can find out more about DEC and how to donate via https://www.dec.org.uk/
The events in Ukraine are just incomprehensible and I find it difficult to understand how anyone could justify the actions that we see reported. It is truly heart-breaking to see the very personal impacts of the military aggression and we must wonder how much worse it could still get. The efforts of people from our area and indeed the rest of Europe to try to support the people of Ukraine are beyond impressive.
This week in Westminster has of course been dominated again by Ukraine. Monday saw the reading of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill created to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners and require overseas entities who own land to register in certain circumstances; to make provision about unexplained wealth orders; and to make provision about sanctions. This is to address the so-called dirty money of Russian oligarchs. We also have Bills on Environmental protection; Exiting the European Union as well as an Estimates Day where the financing of a number of departments are debated.
Next week I will join the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) when they discuss the Ukraine/Russia conflict. I am sure this will be a very emotional affair.
If you want to catch up with me on anything, please email my office via paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk
Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield