My Week In Westminster: w/c 12th January

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After a wonderful weekend of constituency visits - including meeting local lad Jack Spencer at Queens Drive Chippy, who's been nominated for Young Fish Frier of the Year - it's been another busy week in Parliament.

On Monday, I was assured to see the Government take a strong position against the troubling creation of non-consensual deepfake pornography. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology made an unequivocal promise in her statement to the Commons that such activity is "not just an affront to decent society" but also illegal, and that the Government will take action.

The notion that US tech billionaires like Elon Musk can preside over the sexualisation of unwilling victims - including children - leaves me with a mix of anger and abhorrence. All people should be allowed to use the internet, without fear that AI tools will be used to sexualise their image.

Somewhat relatedly, I was also assured to see the Government announce its plan to publish guidance on screen use for the under-5s. Digital technology is an enormously powerful tool, but we need to ensure its proper use for children, so that it best provides for - rather than hinders - their social, emotional and language development. I'm glad the Government has committed to going further on this problem too.

Finally, Monday also saw the House debate and vote on the Government's Finance Bill, including measures to protect family farms in agricultural property relief changes, mentioned in last week's newsletter.

Tuesday saw the Foreign Secretary set out the Government's response to the news of bloody repression emerging from Iran. She detailed a clear plan to tackle any emerging domestic security threats, protect British citizens in the region, and, importantly, take action to undertake co-ordinated economic and diplomatic pressure on the state.

I was delighted to hear about the Government's announcement of the £45 billion Northern Powerhouse Rail plan on Wednesday. The package will deliver faster, more frequent, and more reliable trains to Yorkshire, with upgrades to lines across our region.

For too long, the whole of the North has been overlooked in the investment decisions and economic planning of our country. This announcement will not just improve the quality and reliability of rail services, but also unlock the previously-ignored economic and investment potential of our area.

Thursday saw the Department for Health release data that shows that not only did waiting lists fall by over 86,000 in the month of November, but that we saw the second biggest drop in waits in 15 years! Waiting lists are now down by more than 312,000 since we came into office, despite record numbers of people coming forward for treatment.

I'm wishing you all relaxing weekends, and thank you for reading.