Shailesh Vara MP visited Nene Park Academy in Orton Longueville, Peterborough, and met with senior staff as well as having a question and answer session with students.
Mr Vara met with sixth form students at the Academy and spoke about his role as a Member of Parliament and previously as a Government Minister. There was also a Question and Answer session which saw a wide range of questions from local matters to topical issues such as tuition fees.
Following the meeting, Mr Vara met with Principal, Steve Howard, who updated him on recent developments at the Academy.
Commenting on the visit, Mr Vara said: -
“It was a pleasure to visit the Academy and the progress made over recent years is a testament to the hard work of staff and the senior leadership team.
“The pupils asked some very challenging questions on both local and national issues and it was positive to see just how engaged they are with politics.”
Steve Howard, Principal of Nene Park Academy said:
“In May, we held a general election hustings for our sixth form students to encourage them to start thinking more about politics and how they can be a part of it. Our students thoroughly enjoyed it so we were delighted that Mr Vara could come along to carry on the momentum within the Academy.
“The students thoroughly engaged with the discussion asking insightful questions about local issues that affect them and we hope they came away feeling inspired.”
Shailesh Vara welcomes the constructive trade discussions between the Prime Minister and the leaders of India, China, Japan and America, which represents population six times that of the EU, as demonstrating the potential for a prosperous and positive future for Britain post-Brexit.
Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
At the recent G20 meetings, the Prime Minister had excellent and constructive trade discussions with the leaders of India, China, Japan and America, which collectively represent 43% of the world’s population and six times the population of the European Union. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that this demonstrates the potential for a prosperous and positive future for Britain post-Brexit, and that it really is time for the pessimists to look at the cup being half full rather than half empty?
Damian Green
I am happy to endorse my hon. Friend’s approach and emphasise to him and the House that it is really important to do both—we need a good trade deal with the European Union, which is still a hugely important trading partner for us, but we also need to take the opportunity to strike trade deals with economies around the world, not just currently advanced economies but those that are growing very fast. That is the route to future global prosperity for this country.
Following complaints made by Shailesh Vara MP regarding the closure of the southbound A1(M), junction 17 exit slip road, including raising the matter in Parliament, Highways England have apologised for the chaos and misery caused to thousands of motorists in recent days. They have also recognised that the position has been 'unacceptable'.
Moreover, Highways England have postponed the planned closure of the southbound A1(M) exit slip road at junction 16 due to start today.
The news was conveyed to Mr Vara in an email from Tom Corbett from Highways England.
Mr Vara said:
“I am very pleased that Highways England have finally taken note of the many angry complaints received about the road closure at junction 17 and that they have apologised. I am also very pleased that further works planned at junction 16, to commence today and which were due to last until 14th July, have been postponed until a 'review' is undertaken to see how the work can be better handled and dealt with in the future.
We all recognise that the work needs doing. The issue here has been a lack of proper thought and coordination and a failure to properly communicate with relevant stakeholders and the public.”
Shailesh Vara criticises Highways England’s unacceptable attitude regarding the closure of the southbound slip road at Junction 17 of the A1 (M) which is causing huge misery and inconvenience to thousands of motorists.
Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
In recent days, there has been absolute misery for thousands of motorists in my constituency, which has been caused by work that is being carried out by Highways England. I wrote to Mr Jim O’Sullivan, the chief executive of Highways England, for an explanation, and it has taken a week for me to receive a standard acknowledgment letter saying that I will get a substantive response within the next 15 days, by which time the works will be over. Given that the decisions taken by Highways England impact on millions of people throughout the country, can we have a statement from the Transport Secretary as to whether this “couldn’t care less” attitude from Mr O’Sullivan and his organisation is an acceptable way to go forward?
Andrea Leadsom
I can well imagine what an irritation this is for my hon. Friend’s constituents. I would certainly not be happy with an acknowledgment and then the pledge of a proper reply within two weeks. Many public sector organisations respond very quickly to requests from Members of Parliament, and I hope that Highways England will have heard his remarks and will give him a very quick answer.
In Parliament today, Shailesh Vara MP spoke of Highways England’s unacceptable attitude regarding serious concerns about the closure of a slip road on to the A1 (M) southbound at Junction 17 which is causing much misery and inconvenience to thousands of motorists.
Mr Vara wrote to Mr Jim O'Sullivan the Chief Executive of Highways England on 20th June 2017 and raised his concerns about the poor advance warning to motorists, the absence of engagement with parish councils and local councillors and the lack of proper thought given to the diversion along the A15 - a route which already has roadworks taking place on it.
It took a whole week for Mr Vara to receive a standard acknowledgement to his letter to Mr O'Sullivan with the acknowledgement then saying that further investigation was necessary and it was hoped to provide a proper reply within the next 15 days, by which time the works will have been completed.
As well as the impact on motorists in Mr Vara's constituency, given that decisions taken by Highways England impact on millions of people throughout the country, Mr Vara asked the Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom MP, for a statement from the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, on whether the 'couldn't care less attitude' from Highways England is an acceptable way to behave.
Mrs Leadsom, in her reply said:
“Well I can well imagine what an irritation it is for his constituents, and certainly I would not be happy with an acknowledgement and then the pledge of a proper reply within two weeks.
I think for many public sector organisations they do respond very quickly to requests from Members of Parliament and I hope Highways England will have heard his remarks and give a very quick answer.”
Following the comments in the House of Commons Mr Vara said:
“The attitude of Highways England to serious concerns about this road closure is appalling. They clearly couldn’t care less about the huge problems caused to road users by their actions and they have no intention of doing anything about it, simply waiting for the problem to disappear when the works are completed. This is not the way for such a public body to behave and the Transport Secretary needs to make that clear to Mr O'Sullivan and the rest of the organisation.
“There remain significant questions to be answered and an urgent and full response to my concerns is what is required.”
Following the recent delays in and around Peterborough due to the closure of the slip road on to the A1 (M) southbound at junction 17, Shailesh Vara MP wrote to Mr Jim O’Sullivan, Chief Executive of Highways England, on 20th June 2017 asking what action could be taken to alleviate the problem.
Mr Vara’s letter raised concern about the limited advance warning to motorists about the closure, the absence of engagement with parish councils and local councillors and the lack of thought and planning given to the diversion along the A15; a route with roadworks already taking place.
Having written a week ago today, Mr Vara has had no response from Mr O’Sullivan and has only this afternoon received a standard acknowledgement, which says that further investigations may need to be carried out with 'a number of departments' and they hope to come back to Mr Vara within 15 days.
Given that the work is scheduled to finish this Friday on 30th June it is perfectly clear that Highways England are not giving this matter any priority whatsoever and expect the problem to have gone away by the time they get around to writing to Mr Vara.
Commenting on the situation, Mr Vara said:
“The response from Highways England to the misery of thousands of motorists is appalling.
While thousands of people continue to suffer it has taken a week for me to receive a standard acknowledgement to my letter to Jim O’Sullivan, the Chief Executive. The acknowledgment states that before a response can be provided they may need to carry out 'further investigations with a number of departments’. It is clear that Highways England have done little if anything in the last seven days and are simply dragging their feet until the problem goes away when the work finishes this Friday.
This is not the way for an organisation such as Highways England to operate. Ignoring the huge inconvenience to so many people in this way and burying its head in the sand is simply not acceptable.”
In the Prime Minister's European Council Statement today in Parliament, Shailesh Vara MP urged the Prime Minister to remind her European Union counterparts that many companies in their own countries prefer United Kingdom law to their own legal systems.
Whilst the Prime Minister has given residency assurances to the 3 million EU citizens living in Britain, the EU insists that their laws should prevail over them.
Mr Vara urged the Prime Minister to remind EU leaders that many EU companies use English and Welsh law for their contracts, which means that in cases of dispute they would also use UK courts and judges. This is because EU companies recognise that our judicial system commands greater global respect than the systems in their own countries such as France and Germany.
In agreeing with Mr Vara, the Prime Minister reinforced the global respect in which our judicial system is held.
Following the recent tragic accident between Elton and Peterborough in which a man died, Shailesh Vara MP has written to the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling MP, and Gillian Beasley, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire County Council, asking them to take action to prevent further accidents.
The A605 has a long history of serious accidents and in the last two months alone some four people have died in vehicle collisions.
Copies of Mr Vara’s letters are attached.
| Letter to Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling
| Letter to Cambridgeshire County Council Chief Executive, Gillian Beasley
Shailesh Vara welcomes the Government’s deal with the DUP in the national interest and calls on Labour to work constructively with the Government at this crucial time in our history.
Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
There has been much reference to the national interest this afternoon, and I commend my right hon. Friend for doing a deal with the DUP in the national interest. However, given this crucial time in our history and the challenges that lie ahead, does he agree that now is the time for Labour to work constructively with the Government for the greater good of the nation, not to seek to score political points?
Damian Green
I agree with my hon. Friend’s wise point. It is never too late to repent, and if the Opposition Front-Bench team want to adopt a more constructive attitude, I would very much welcome that.
Shailesh Vara rejects EU demands that EU law govern EU citizens resident in the UK and highlights the fact that many companies in the EU and across the world use English and Welsh law contract law.
Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
When EU leaders say that they want EU laws to prevail over their citizens in the UK, what they are effectively saying is that they do not trust our judicial system. When the Prime Minister next meets her EU counterparts, may I suggest that she gently reminds them that many of the companies in their own countries—the companies that drive their economies—actually use English and Welsh contract law, which is enforced in our courts by our judges, and the reason why they use English and Welsh law is that, globally, our judicial system commands greater respect than the judicial systems of Germany, France, Italy and so on?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point, and the nub of it is that our courts are respected around the world. As he says, people choose to use our law because they respect our courts, and they also respect the validity of our law. It is important that citizens in the UK are under the jurisdiction of our courts.