When I became the MP for Devizes in 2019 my first priority was to get to know the Army. I’ve spent a day or so each month since with the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which takes MPs to military bases to see first hand what our soldiers, sailors and airforce personnel do. We have to wear an army uniform, which feels a little ridiculous at times. But this week, on Salisbury Plain, I was glad of my boots and waterproofs, and there was nothing ridiculous about it.
We were taken to meet soldiers on Exercise Wessex Storm. This lasts for weeks, through the worst that February can do. The soldiers are ‘fighting’ an opposing force who resemble in their equipment and military doctrines the army of a large country threatening Europe from the east, with tanks and air support. They have little sleep; are on the move every few hours; are surprised by attacks and sudden orders. The day we went was cold and wet, with a sharp wind.
One stop was at a barn I knew, usually empty, by a track where I walk my dog. Here was a mobile HQ, with flickering screens and tables covered in laminated maps. Recumbent forms in sleeping bags lay in rows in the cow stalls. We ate rations (meatballs and pasta: not bad; mostly sugar) heated over bunsen burners on the bonnet of a Landrover. Every man and women we spoke to was cheerful, hospitable, knew their job, and was proud of their unit and the Army. I cannot put adequately into words what respect and appreciation I have for them.
I spoke a few times in the Commons this week about Ukraine. In a debate on the sanctions regime that the world is imposing on Russia I stressed the need for speed, but also for the rule of law - we can’t just confiscate everything owned by a Russian in London. I also said plainly that we need a bigger Army, with more armour. Watch here.
Separately I commended the government on the announcement of a new Humanitarian Sponsorship Pathway for refugees fleeing Ukraine who don’t have relations here in the UK (anyone with relations here can come under the expanded Family Scheme, which went live on Friday). We have seen a huge surge in generosity by people in Wiltshire (I wrote about it here, including advice that to help people in Poland and elsewhere it’s better to give money than stuff at the moment). I suggested to the Home Secretary that we should set up a fund to help the refugees here once they get here to the UK - which I hope is very soon. She welcomed the suggestion (see here).
We are rightly transfixed by the tragedy of Ukraine and the courage of its people and its leader. But life carries on at home. I spoke briefly about the last colossal global crisis in a debate called to discuss ‘vaccine injuries’ - the negative, sometimes terrible and even fatal effects of the Covid vaccines. I pointed to the brave doctors and scientists who challenge the consensus around mass vaccination (particularly of children, which I think is unnecessary and risky), and encouraged the government to be transparent and honest about the downside of the vaccines. My intervention (in an almost empty chamber during an end-of-day debate, which was the only way to get the subject on the floor of the chamber at all) is here.
This week I held meetings with the police and youth workers to discuss the spate of crime and anti-social behaviour in Devizes town, the work of a well-known group of teenagers who seem to have run wild during the Covid years and now resent the suggestion that they return to school. We are working on a plan to tackle them with the right mix of toughness and love.
I also met parents of young adults with learning difficulties in Marlborough, along with the outstanding local councillor Jane Davies who holds the social care portfolio for Wiltshire. It was inspiring to see such a committed, compassionate and sensible local politician working with residents on an issue that really matters: where do young people with learning difficulties live when they are grown up, and ready for some independence? I hope the answer will be in decent, stable, appropriate housing, in Marlborough.
And I had a meeting with the very affable, very knowledgeable public affairs rep of Thames Water to discuss the ongoing scandal of pollution in the Kennet. Suffice to say he knows what I think. He was supportive of the Morgan’s Hill Rivers Group - the initiative I set up to improve our rivers which this week earns me an unexpected honour: lunch with Feargal Sharkey. Not everyone will know that name, and fewer will know he has become a leading campaigner for clean rivers, but those people interested in the niche bisection of 1980s pop music and fly fishing will understand why I am very much looking forward to meeting him.
On Friday night I held a public meeting in the upstairs Assembly Room of Devizes Town Hall. This is something I promised to do regularly when I was elected but was only able to hold one meeting before Covid stopped everything. I can now make good my promise. We had a good turnout and a ‘lively discussion’, as they say - including one chap holding up a sign (till his arms got tired and he left) reading ‘Boris = Putin’s puppet’ - but overall I enjoyed it and was very pleased to do it. The Gazette had a mostly good write-up - well, good about me, not about the organisation and management of the event (which was also me, but nevermind). If you want to come to another meeting, I’ll be in Tidworth next month and Marlborough the one after - details to follow.
Above the great bay windows of the Assembly Room is the insignia (or ‘device’ we should call it) of Devizes - its castle, which of course in its original form dates back to the reign of William the Conqueror. Because of its geography, on an escarpment commanding the further West, Devizes has been - as its name suggests - at the boundaries of shires and hundreds, dioceses and boroughs for all its long history, warping and morphing with the tides of population and power. Now we are changing shape again, as the Boundary Commission threatens to carve Devizes off from its eastern hinterland - the Marlborough downs and Pewsey Vale - and chop it into three new constituencies. I am objecting to this plan at the public meeting of the Boundary Commission in Bath on 28-29 March. Do join me - sign up to speak here. Even Devizes cannot take too much dividing.
Beyond the Devizes device on Friday night, outside the windows, fluttered the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine (see picture). Not everywhere do they change boundaries by democratic, bureaucratic processes. In fact 380 years ago artillery pounded Devizes too, and you can see the cannon ball holes in the walls of St John’s. Since then, unbroken peace, unless you count the odd riot, or the drone of a German plane navigating to London or Bristol by the white horses on the hillsides. It is trite but true, how fragile and how precious this peace is.
