Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns speaks on A1 crossing points closure decision
Starting this fortnight with some positive news for our communities, I’m pleased we’re securing such good traction and progress to improve the safety of the A1 as National Highways is proposing to shut sixteen A1 central reservation crossing gaps, writes Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns (Con).
As part of the process I instigated to close central reservation crossings on the A1 to make it safer, National Highways is consulting on closing 16 crossings between Little Ponton and South Witham in what I hope is the first phase of closing the A1’s dangerous crossings. While these may not be the crossings where we see the highest accidents rates, this is encouraging progress towards making our stretch of the A1 safer and I’m grateful to National Highways for listening to our arguments.
In other local news, over one thousand of you have now signed my petition calling on Rutland County Council to rethink proposals being actively considered to cut our black bin collections to only once every three-weeks. This decision would be extremely inconvenient for Rutlanders, who already pay the highest rate of council tax nationally, leaving us with rubbish heaped up in our homes for just short of a month. Please do encourage your friends, family and neighbours to add their names to the petition on my website.
We are very fortunate to have so many wonderful independent businesses locally, so it was a joy to celebrate and give them the recognition they deserve on Small Business Saturday. Thank you also to everyone who has nominated a shop for Rutland and Stamford’s Favourite Independent Shop Awards! A shortlist of shops will now be created before final voting reopens to crown our 2024-5 winners.
Down in Westminster, I continue to stand up for our hard-working farmers who are being threatened by Labour’s changes to inheritance tax. Sadly I wasn’t called in Parliament to give my speech on farming, however I intervened a number of times to oppose this cruel attack on our rural communities. Last week we forced a vote on Labour’s Family Farm Tax. Disappointingly not a single Labour MP voted against the tax.
Much of the debate over the past weeks has been focused on the vote on the Assisted Dying bill. Thank you to everyone from both sides of the debate who shared your personal stories with me on such an important topic. I have been very open about my views on assisted dying since my first election, and I welcome the bill passing its second reading. I will do all I can to make this the very best possible legislation with the necessary safeguards that will allow the terminally ill to shorten their suffering.
Since the Budget, I have been inundated with emails from local businesses, charities, hospices, farmers and GP practices gravely concerned about their futures following the increased rate of Employer National Insurance Contributions. I recently gave a speech in Parliament calling on the Government to recognise these concerns and reverse course.
Last but not least, I am enormously touched and honoured to have won the Patchwork Foundation’s ‘Overall MP of the Year’ Award! My thanks go to our communities for putting your trust in me as your MP and giving me the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives every day. This award is also for my amazing team, without whom I couldn’t serve our communities.
