Please accept my apologies for the sending of an incomplete email yesterday without the week in view column. Lords Reform The beginning of the week was dominated by Lords reform, with the 2nd reading debate and the withdrawal of a programme motion that would have severely restricted the level of scrutiny of the Bill. As regular readers will know I am very much opposed to the introduction of elections into the Lords, but am not opposed to reforming the Upper House. In my speech in the debate on Monday, I concentrated on what Britain's constitution and democracy means to me. Having come from an Iraq ruled by the iron fist of Saddam Hussein the constitution and institutions of British democracy are very dear to my heart and are something I am very happy to defend. You can read my full speech and watch it on video at this blog post: Speech in Lords reform debate. The Government's decision to withdraw the programme motion on Tuesday was a good day for democracy, the bill presented to us was deeply flawed and I am glad that the Government saw that it simply couldn't progress without real consensus. We've now got until the Autumn to come together and build that consensus but as I said on Sky news on Sunday I hope we can do that swiftly, in the coming weeks not months so we can draw a line under this and move on to focus on what really matters. Dairy Farmers On Wednesday dairy farmers from across the country, including representatives from Warwickshire, came to Parliament to lobby politicians over milk prices. The difference between the cost of production, which is up to 30p a pint and the price super markets are currently willing to pay, in some cases as low as 24p is very worrying. I have a very good relationship with our local farmers and was very happy to meet them to discuss this. I've also agreed to meet with local dairy farmers in Stratford next week to discuss this further and to write to supermarkets regarding specific cases of restrictive contracts that are now losing farmers money. Nationally the government have also announced a new scheme under the rural economy grant to help producers fund projects to lower their costs and increase their competitiveness. The scheme will launch in the Autumn and more details will be available soon. The Greig Hall in Alcester On Wednesday evening Alcester Town Council called a public meeting on the future of the Greig Hall. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to votes in Parliament but a member of my staff did attend in my place and spoke briefly on my behalf. At the meeting local residents expressed their continued support for the plan put forward by the Town Council and the Action Group. It's clear that the facilities offered by the Hall are wanted by the community and although I am not involved in any decisions directly (The District Council, the Town Council and the Trust's bank are the main stakeholders) I have informed the Mayor of Alcester of my willingness to help facilitate any future meetings between the parties involved. I have also expressed my commitment to do what I can to help ensure that Alcester retains these important facilities. Student Immigration Last week I co-wrote a piece with fellow BIS Select Committee member and Labour MP Paul Blomfeld for the Sunday Times about student visas. Controlling immigration is obviously one of the main priorities for this Government but we shouldn't forget that legitimate foreign students are a huge benefit to our economy. Higher Education is a leading exports earner contributing £7.9bn to the economy every year and by 2025 this figure is expected to double. The government was entirely right to crack down on bogus colleges and tighten up the student visa system, but unfortunately the resultant messages being broadcast around the world are that foreign students are unwelcome. The problem lies in the way we calculate immigrant numbers and the fact that the rules count foreign born students just like any other immigrant. Whilst many people are concerned about the levels of immigration to Britain, few would see international students, who arrive here to study, pays us for the privilege and then return home with a quality degree as part of that. The solution is to remove students from the official immigrant numbers, just as they do in places like America, and Australia. Of course the problem with this is that the Government will not act if there's any chance of a claim they are fiddling the figures. This is such an important issue it deserves cross party support which is why Paul and I penned the piece together and hope that both our parties will take note. You can read the full piece here: Sunday Times: Reopen the Doors to Foreign Students In the Constituency This week was busy as ever starting with St Benedict's school in Alcester. I was asked to officially open their Scolastica rooms, named after St Benedict's sister the new rooms are an excellent resource for students with varied learning needs and include two new classrooms and even a physio-therapy room. The project to convert two disused mobile classrooms into a modern learning environment was funded by a £10,000 grant from the County Council and £25,000 worth of donations and fundraising from the PTA. It shows just what can be done with a supportive community and with a little imagination and ingenuity and not too much money. Whilst at St Benedict's I also had the chance to chat with some of their sixth form students, we talked about a broad range of subjects but specifically about university tuition fees. I wanted to check that the correct messages and the real facts about changes to the fees system were getting through to students and was delighted to hear that they are. Students told me that if anything the new system, within which students only pay after graduation, after they are earning more, and pay less per month, is encouraging more students to consider university not less, a very heartening message to take back to my colleagues. From Alcester I then visited Studley Sports and Social Club, a fantastic community facility consisting of football and cricket pitches, tennis courts (including some rare grass courts) a bowling green and a bar and function room. The club is currently pulling together a bid for National Lottery, Sport England, funding and wanted me to see their plans to improve drainage on their pitches and to understand a little more about the history of the club and the facilities they offer. A number of other local groups have successfully bid for Sport England funding and I've agreed to connect them together for some advice on how to be successful and to support Studley's bid itself. It was then back to Stratford to meet with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. As one of the major cultural organisations and a large employer in my constituency I try to meet with them reasonably frequently to discuss their plans and any way I can help. I'm particularly excited about their plans for a national Shakespeare Week in schools and will be speaking with Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt about it to try to gain the Government's support. Shakespeare is an important cultural legacy and the Birthplace Trust's plans will put it front and centre in schools and deserve to be supported by Government. My final meeting of the day was with Warwickshire's Chief Fire Officer to discuss the Service's next steps in relation to the Atherstone fire trial. Warwickshire Fire Service feel that the tragedy has exposed a significant gap in fire safety law that allows a building to be occupied without a fire certificate and would like support in lobbying government for that change. They have also identified issues with the sharing of research information on new building techniques and its impact on fires and hope to find a way to close that gap with the Local Government department. It was a very positive discussion and I've agreed to discuss a co-ordinated effort with my Warwickshire colleagues in order to support the service in driving these changes forward. From my last meeting of the day it was off to Stratford High for a performance of Singing Playgrounds. For the past year students from 9 primary schools in and around Stratford have been working with the group Ex-Cathedra to learn playground songs and games and to act as song leaders in their own playgrounds. On Friday their work culminated in a performance in front of parents that I was lucky enough to be asked to attend. It was a fantastic evening and clearly a project that the children got so much out of, certainly something that I hope can be replicated elsewhere in the constituency.