Hi, as 2015 comes to a close I want to update you on my last few months in parliament and the constituency.

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• IN PARLIAMENT

In the Autumn session of the House of Commons I've spoken on a number of issues including:

• Rural broadband
• Refugee crisis
• Management of our immigration system
• Defence procurement
• Terrorism

In addition to these subjects I made a speech against giving 16 and 17 year olds the vote in the forthcoming EU Referendum. The Hansards report of the speech is here and you can watch the video here.

 

Syria.
One of the most significant decisions of the last session was the vote on air strikes in Syria. I have long felt that limiting our actions against IS/Daesh to Iraq was wrong so I voted to extend our military action against them into Syria.  You can watch the whole debate and vote here.

Full coverage of my speeches and voting record can be found on the Hansards website.

Rail Services in Braintree.  This Winter we have experienced a number of significant delays and cancellations of local rail services.  I have written to the Secretary of State for Transportabout these problems and demanded that they be addressed as part of the new rail franchise award.

 

Broadband Roll-out: In November I joined a number of other rural MPs to deliver a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer demanding greater investment in rural broadband. If you look very closely I'm standing right at the back.

 

Free Trade. Earlier this month I published a paper, as part of the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs.  The paper calls for our trade barriers to be scrapped to encourage global trade and boost our economy. 

"Tear down this wall" is available as a PDF and can be downloaded here.
 

• IN THE CONSTITUENCY

I've visited a number of businesses over the Autumn including new businesses like Cool Beans Coffee Shop in Braintree andStudio 2 in Castle Heddingham.

Visiting schools is always fun and I addressed an assembly at Finchingfield Primary School and the prize giving at the Ramsey Academy in Halstead and I'd like to thank the Heads of both schools for the invitations. If you are involved in a community organisation and would like me to visit please get in touch.

 

The bridge in Finchingfield is scheduled for repair works in Summer 2016 and local residents and businesses are worried about the impact of the closure. I've been to looking at ways to minimise the disruption including the possibility of a temporary bridge while the work is being done.

I held a village meeting in Lamarsh to discuss local issues answer questions about my work both in parliament and the constituency and I'll hold other similar meetings across the constituency.

I continue to hold regular advice surgeries across the constituency, if you live in the constituency and want to book a meeting with me about an issue that concerns you, please email me at: james.cleverly.mp@parliament.uk

So that's just some of what I got up to this Autumn. I'd like to thank you for all your support this year and wish you a very happy and successful 2016.

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All the best,

JC

James Cleverly, Member of Parliament for Braintree
http://www.cleverly4braintree.com/