Neil Carmichael - MP for Stroud

Happy Christmas from Neil Carmichael

The House of Commons is now on recess. Members of Parliament from across the Country have returned home to be with their families at Christmas.

2011 has been at times a troubling year, our economy has not performed as strongly as we would like though it is getting better and will continue to get better, inflation is falling fairly quickly to more sustainable levels which will certainly help the situation improve. We have also had waves of social discontent, in the summer we saw a rare breakdown of order in English cities for reasons that remain to be shrouded in ambiguity and mystery on top of which a number of major strikes and protests have had their toll on the nation.

Though it has also been a year of many accomplishments, the Government this year has passed vital parts of its shared manifesto commitments. The localism bill which mandates the largest transfer of power away from Whitehall to local authorities and individuals now exists in law as the Localism Act, also law is the first tranche of Iain Duncan Smith’s key welfare reforms which includes limits on overall payouts and stricter caps for housing benefits besides the amalgamation of the sprawling but disparate bureaucracies within the Department for Work and Pensions. Then of course there are matters related to Europe, a key piece of legislation that alters the constitution was passed this year which no longer allows a government to decide on holding a referendum that transfers sovereignty from the United Kingdom, it is now a legal requirement that they do so.

These are but a few examples from a greater array of achievements by the Government and Parliament in Westminster this year to empower the people of the country and make their governance more receptive and responsible to them.  Locally there have been great successes also, after many years of lobbying, the Government has decided to fund the upgrading of the Swindon – Kemble railway line. At a cost of £50 million the line will now become dual track thus infinitely increasing capacity as timetables will no longer need to be predicated around the single line track being used by a train travelling in the opposite direction. This feeds into wider investment in the railways which will see the Great Western Railway become electrified all the way from London to South Wales, due to these improvements journey times will fall quite significantly, a large increase in the number of services will increase passenger flexibility and as the trains will be more fuel efficient there will be scope for lesser prices.

These last few years have proved to be a very difficult and testing time for the United Kingdom and large swathes of the world, and I am very proud of the way that this country has reacted, proving once again that we are a fantastic resource for resilience and stoicism that is allowing us to come through the storm in a strong and confident fashion. It is a difficult time for a new government to make its mark as resources have become far scarcer and the same applies to new MPs, Westminster has to become wiser and shrewder about what can and what cannot be accomplished by the state and by the individual and if this is the legacy of this era then let it be.

To all the people of this wonderful constituency that I represent, of Gloucestershire, of the United Kingdom and of the world entire I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and successful new year of 2012.

Tags: North Stroud | Stroud West | Nailsworth and Minchinhampton | Cam and Dursley | Berkeley Vale | Chalford | Stonehouse | Upton St. Leonards Bisley and Painswick | Stroud East

This entry was posted on 23 December 2011 at 17:00 and is filed under Events | Culture and Tourism | The Community.