I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year. As we begin 2018, it is natural to look back on the year we have had – and what a year of ups and downs 2017 has been.
I think when we look back on 2017 in years to come, we will remember the horrific terror attacks which shook our country – including one right on our doorsteps at Manchester Arena.
We will never forget the images we saw and the stories we read of these awful attacks and we will never forget the families who lost children and parents. It is difficult to imagine that they will have just spent their first Christmas without their loved ones.
At least nine terror attacks have been foiled by police and security services in our country this year. It is right that the government has increased the police’s counter terrorism budget by 7 percent, with a £50 million increase taking it to at least £757 million. The first duty of any government should be to keep our country and its citizens safe and we are now spending more on counter terror policing than ever before.
This past year also saw the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower in London, which cost the lives of 71 people. And stories of sexual harassment leaked from all corners – from Hollywood to politics – with the name Weinstein becoming synonymous with sexual harassment and abuse of power.
Back in March, Prime Minister Theresa May sent a six-page letter to the European Commission President, Donald Tusk, formally invoking Article 50 and therefore our country’s process of leaving the EU.
Flash forward a few weeks and a General Election was called and, with it, the most rollercoaster campaign I have ever been part of.
Election night was a difficult night for the Conservatives nationally, although we seemed to buck the trend here. As well as being returned with a bigger majority, I also increased my vote share to nearly half of the total votes cast. I was also delighted that the Conservative candidate for Leigh, Councillor James Grundy, increased the Conservative vote by an extra 7,000, significantly reducing the Labour majority there.
One thing we can conclude from the General Election is that the days of the local political establishment taking people and their votes for granted now has to come to an end.
Although I am sure that we are all hoping that 2018 will have a little less politics and certainly no more General Elections, we do have important local elections to look forward to. This May, we will go to the polls to choose who we want to represent us in Wigan Town Hall.
Will this be the year that local people send a message to the Labour leadership sat in Wigan that we want change? Atherton has done this before and I wouldn’t be surprised if it does so again – particularly when we look at the reaction of local people to news that Wigan would be rejecting Atherton as their choice for a scheme that could see our town centre regenerated.
I’ll be heading back to Westminster shortly where I will continue to work for the people of Bolton West & Atherton.
It is set to be a busy year in Parliament as we continue the process of acting on the will of the British people and remove our country from the EU.
I hope Leigh Observer readers had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year. I look forward to continuing to wave the flag for Atherton in Parliament and locally.