Speech to Conservative AGM on March 1st 2019

At the AGM I thanked all the outgoing officers of the Association for their hard work over the previous year and wished the new team under David Edmonds well for the year ahead.

I said that the overwhelming response from voters over Brexit was to get on with it. The country and the Wokingham constituency want it over with, so Parliament can give more time and attention to the issues of schools, healthcare, economic growth, taxation and transport that have direct effects on day to day lives. I explained how I am trying to get the government to leave the EU on 29 March in accordance with the legislation passed, whilst tabling and seeking to negotiate a comprehensive free trade agreement.

I am determined that government should also tackle the needs and priorities we share for 2019. I am working with government on  a better deal for the schools and surgeries of West Berkshire and Wokingham. We need to get the Council and government together on the issue of enforcement of the local plan constraints on additional housing and on how the five year supply of land is calculated. There needs to be more action on bad junctions and inadequate roads.

The vision that unites us is that of a more prosperous and freer UK. We want more people to become homeowners, more to receive high quality education, more to have access to great training. Current policy is creating more jobs and more better paid and full time jobs. We want people to be well paid because they are productive, with good career prospects from gaining qualifications and experience. We want people to enjoy personal freedoms, with the benefits of new technology supplementing the freedom that personal transport and a good home can bring.