‘We can never repay that debt of gratitude, but we can remember’ says Grantham and Stamford MP Gareth Davies
Last Sunday I was honoured to join other representatives, veterans, cadets, youth groups, and hundreds of other local people on the parade from St Peter’s Hill to St Wulfram’s Church for a Remembrance Day service, led by Father Stuart Cradduck, culminating in a wreath laying service and the Last Post, writes Gareth Davies, MP for Grantham and Stamford.
I was also proud to see an excellent turnout at Remembrance parades in Stamford, Bourne, and surrounding villages. I attend parades in different locations within the constituency each year, but I know hundreds of local people were out to support our veterans, cadets, and other youth groups in town parades.
Our area has a rich military history, it is right that we honour and pay our respects to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our nation. We can never repay that debt of gratitude, but we can remember.
As they have for over a century, services across our area and the rest of our country progressed in-step with the national service at the Cenotaph in London, led by His Majesty The King.
Earlier in the week, His Majesty called upon Members of the House of Commons to join peers in the House of Lords for the King’s Speech - the first of his reign.
Not only does the State Opening of Parliament allow for the very best of British tradition and pageantry, it is an important opportunity for a Government to set out the key pieces of legislation they plan to pass over the coming year. Within the last session, the Government passed 43 bills, and I voted 326 times and gave 137 spoken contributions. I look forward to continuing to do my part in the forthcoming session.
Of course, at the start of His Majesty’s speech, and the very top of the Prime Minister’s priorities, was the Government’s commitment to bring inflation back to target and under control.
Inflation eats away at the money in the pockets of hard working families, it means that our pounds do not go as far as they should, and it squeezes household budgets, making us all feel poorer. This is exactly why the Prime Minister has been so determined to do all we can to bring inflation under control.
The latest figures out this week show that the Prime Minister’s strong plan is working, and inflation has fallen from its peak of 11% to 4.6%. This means the pressure is easing not just on prices, but also on interest rates. Nonetheless, inflation still sits above the Bank of England’s 2% target, so we will continue to take the responsible decisions required to finish the job.
Alongside our fight against inflation, this King’s Speech set out our long-term plan to deliver on the other key priorities of our country, from improving infrastructure to unlocking use of North Sea oil and gas to enhance our domestic supplies and support hundreds of thousands of jobs. We have reduced our emissions more than any other G7 country, and will continue that work, but in a proportionate and pragmatic way, consistent with our security and prosperity.
I look forward to supporting these measures and more over the coming year, as we continue to take the difficult decisions required to defeat inflation and deliver on the key priorities of the British people, so areas like ours continue to succeed.
