This week saw the State Opening of Parliament and the Government laying out it’s legislative programme for the coming parliamentary session.

I always try to keep my weekly update ‘politics free’ so won’t comment on the list of bills that the Government will bring forward but please do always feel free to let me know your thoughts at [email protected]

In many ways the State Opening is much more about pomp and pageantry and wasn’t it wonderful to see Her Majesty the Queen back to work so soon after the sad death of HRH Prince Philip?

What a remarkable woman she is and a role model to us all. Duty and professionalism personified.

I did put my name forward to attend that State Opening – due to Covid only a very small number of MPs and Peers were allowed to attend – unfortunately like the vast majority of parliamentarians I ended up watching on the TV, but it was still a very special occasion.

Aside from that this week I have:

• Met with the roads minister, Baroness Vere, to discuss dualling the A5 and ‘the most bashed bridge in Britain’.
• Received a briefing from Matt Hancock about the next stage of lifting Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
• Received a briefing from the Environment Secretary about his plans for animal welfare legislation, and I am pleased DEFRA have listened and organised a pet theft taskforce
• Had a meeting with senior staff at TikTok about my body image campaign.
• Also had a meeting with the UK Anti-Doping authority about the effects performance enhancing drugs have on body image, agreeing to work together to highlight this agenda.
• Took part in a meeting with TSB who told me how they are helping customers bounce back after the pandemic.
• Had a briefing from the vaccines minister about the continued success of the vaccine rollout, and plans to deal with the Indian variant.
• Received an update from local health leads about future developments in the NHS here in Hinckley and Bosworth, and the joint work going on with the Borough council to promote healthy living and support.
• Met with the new area leader of the DWP to discuss UC, job support and getting people back into work as the pandemic eases.
• Met with the Canals and Rivers Trust about waterways in the constituency.
• …and held another constituent’s surgery including: NHS payrise, school funding for SEN and to hear from a new business about their ideas.

On Monday 17 May the third stage of lockdown will come into effect and life will seem much more ‘normal’. Please do continue to follow the restrictions that are still in place, we have come so far and it’s important that we continue to minimise any residual threat of spreading the virus.

Finally, a huge ‘Good Luck’ today to Leicester City at Wembley! Let’s hope it’s an historic day for the team. Wherever you watch the final please do enjoy every moment of it!