Community
Speedwatch Team meets MP and calls for more volunteers
Fiona Bruce MP has
met with John Doyle who volunteers with the Congleton Community Speedwatch
Team.
The
team are calling for more volunteers to take part. All participation is done on
an ad hoc basis and there no need to commit to a particular time or number of
hours.
The main cause of deaths and injuries on the road is
excessive speed and around 70% of drivers break the speed limit in residential
areas so schemes such as Speed Watch try to alter drivers’ attitudes and
behaviour towards speeding
Community Speed Watch volunteers are
trained in using hand held speed detection devices, paid for by the Council,
and then the speed of vehicles is monitored at nominated locations - determined
by the residents. If a vehicle is recorded as speeding their registration is
logged and then the logs are passed to the police.
Community Speedwatch
volunteer, John Doyle said
“Our main aim is to help motorists
remember that they are in a speed limited zone.”
The
local contact for the group is PCSO Jessica Shore and if people want to get
involved they should call the police non-emergency number 101 to express an
interest.
Fiona
Bruce MP supports farming community in Parliament post EU Referendum
The
All Party Parliamentary Group on Eggs, Pigs and Poultry recently held a
reception at the House of Commons, attended by a number of MPs who support the
farming sector including Fiona Bruce MP.
Chair
of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Neil Parish MP
highlighted how the UK is in a position to agree new trade deals with countries
across the world following the decision to leave the EU and that the UK had a great
deal to offer.
Responding
Farming Minister George Eustice MP, who campaigned to leave the EU, was buoyant
about the farming and food produce sector, emphasising that it can innovate
well and adapt quickly to change and that he believed that there are
opportunities to seize new export markets beyond the EU going forward.
Fiona Bruce MP said “I
have asked a number of questions in Parliament recently on behalf of Cheshire
farmers since whatever happens with the UK going forward we must protect and support
our agricultural sector. Farmers are the backbone of our rural economy and we
cannot allow them to be short-changed. They deserve all our support, particularly
bearing in mind the high welfare standards and quality produce in the UK which
we can all be proud of, purchase and promote. ”
The
event also gave Fiona Bruce an opportunity to thank George Eustice for his
swift action to ensure that raisins, harvested before 2016, could still be used
in food products – including, importantly, this year’s Christmas puddings –
following a change in EU regulations. This intervention was vital to secure
continuing production at Congleton food producers Mornflake and MorFruit.
Fiona
Bruce MP attends Holmes Chapel Guide Dogs for the Blind Event
Fiona
Bruce MP attended an event at St Luke’s Church Hall in Holmes Chapel in support
of the Guide Dogs for the Blind and said“I am always happy to support an event by
guide Dogs for the Blind. This is such an excellent charity and the dogs they
train are an absolute lifeline for blind and partially sighted people. Having
been taken on a blindfold walk by one of their dogs I can say first-hand that
your life really is in their hands! I congratulate all volunteers for Guide
Dogs for the Blind on their commitment to such an important service.”
Fiona
Bruce MP celebrates announcement that BBC World Service will broadcast into
North Korea
Following
a long campaign Fiona Bruce MP, Co-Chair of the APPG on North Korea, celebrating
the news that the BBC World Service will extend its broadcast into North Korea.
Speaking on the
announcement Fiona Bruce said
“The news of a BBC World Service for the
people of North Korea is something I and other MPs in the All Party Parliamentary
Group concerned about Human Rights in North Korea have been campaigning on for
years. It is a hugely positive step, and a great win for all those who have
consistently campaigned for this. It is heartening that the BBC has listened to
these calls, after initially saying this was neither technically nor financially
possible. We had a number of meetings with them in Parliament explaining the
importance of breaking down what is called the information blockade in North
Korea so that the oppressed people of North Korea can hear from other media and
information sources rather than exclusively from their own dictatorial
leadership..”
North
Korea is considered the most persecuted country on earth; as documented in the
recent UN Commission of Inquiry chaired by Mr Justice Kirby – pressing for this
was an earlier successful campaign by this All Party Group - hundreds of
thousands of North Koreans are incarcerated today in concentration camps, many
for speaking even briefly in opposition to their government. Torture is routine
such as electrocuting people, summary execution, chemical experiments on people
and literally working people to death – North Korea’s lack of any regard for
human rights has been called sui generis – in a category of its own.
Fiona Bruce said“Many
people ask my why I campaign in Parliament for the freedom of the people in
North Korea. The answer is that they are far and away the most oppressed people
on earth in our generation with their treatment, from their own Government on a
parallel with the holocaust.”
The
BBC’s example of unfettered free speech, and the picture of an outside world,
which the BBC can broadcast to oppressed societies across the world is
unparalleled, as is respect for the BBC, and has had real impact in helping
societies move towards democracy.
Fiona Bruce said “As
we have heard from testimonies of those who lived in the Soviet Union, East
Germany, Romania and Burma – broadcasting into those countries - when they were
closed and people there living under oppressive leadership - from the BBC
encouraged and inspired millions during their darkest days to understand what a
free society looks like, and educated many for future leadership and prompted
brave individuals to challenge their dictatorial governments.
Over recent years
advancements in new technologies mean that increasingly the information
blockade in North Korea which has enabled the Government there to keep a
stranglehold on their people’s understanding and thought-processes is cracking
as evidenced in the book “How the information underground is transforming a closed
society” written by Jieun Baek, which I had the privilege of launching very
recently in the House of Commons – and broadcasting by the BBC has the
potential to make this crack a huge fissure – let us hope it is the beginning
of the end of over sixty years of suffering for the North Korean people.”
Housing
and Planning Minister responds to Congleton MP's request to strengthen influence
of Neighbourhood Plans in planning decisions
Yesterday
in the House of Commons, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Gavin
Barwell MP, responded to a strongly worded speech by Fiona Bruce MP when she pressed
the Government to accept the work put in by local residents, such as those in Brereton
and Sandbach in the Congleton Constituency, to create and agree Neighbourhood
Plans and to strengthen their impact in the Planning system.
The
full text of Fiona’s speech is below.
In response the Minister
said
“The National Planning Policy Framework already says
clearly that, where aplanning application conflicts with a Neighbourhood
Plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally
be granted. As my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton pointed out, the issue
here is that, where a local planning authority does not have a five-year land
supply, that is not a normal circumstance and the presumption in favour of
development in some cases—not all—overrides Neighbourhood Plans.
In the Written Ministerial
Statement, I made it clear that from yesterday, where communities plan for
housing in their area in a Neighbourhood Plan, those plans should not be deemed
out of date unless there is a significant lack of land supply—that is, under
three years. That applies to all plans for the next two years, and for the
first two years of any plan that is put into place. That will give a degree of
protection that has not been available. The message needs to go out clearly
from this House that local authorities must get up-to-date plans in place to
provide that protection for Neighbourhood Plans. I hope that that reassures
people. As I said, I have written both to the Planning Inspectorate and to
local councils on that issue.”
Speaking after the announcement
Fiona Bruce said “I am pleased that Ministers have listened to
my constituents concerns, both as I expressed in the Chamber of the House of
Commons yesterday and in recent meetings on this issue which I have had with
the Housing and Planning Minister and that, in response, Ministers reviewed the
planning impact of Neighbourhood Plans with immediate effect. It remains to be
seen how this will improve decisions to more fairly reflect the work which has
been and is being put in to Neighbourhood Plans in the Congleton Constituency.
There is also the question, now to be considered, as to whether Judicial Review
of any decision already made by the Planning Inspectorate should be applied for
in light of the fact that these regulations have come to effect immediately,
and that any Judicial Review would therefore be judged in the light of them.”
It is imperative that
Ministers act to restore the confidence of my Congleton constituents in the
status of Neighbourhood Plans specifically and in Localismmore widely. My constituents consider that the status and
application of Neighbourhood Plans is confusing, contradictory, inconsistent
and unfair. The area has no Local Plan and no agreed five-year planned housing supply.
For years, local communities in my constituency have been bombarded with a
barrage of inappropriate planning applications by developers gobbling up green
spaces, including prime agricultural land, and putting pressure on local
schools, health services, roads and other services. It is essential that
Ministers take action to give Neighbourhood Plans the full weight in practice
that the Government say they have in theory. It is for that reason that
residents in my constituency have in some cases taken years to prepare Neighbourhood
Plans. I respect the Government’s good intentions, but they are not being
carried out.
The
Government Factsheet on the Bill states:
“Neighbourhood
Planning gives communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their
neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area. For the
first time communities can produce plans that have real statutory weight in the
planning system.”
That
is the theory, but let me tell hon. Members about the practice. The parish of
Brereton was the first area in my constituency to produce a Neighbourhood Plan.
It is a rural farming area mainly—just 470 houses are dotted about it. It
developed a Neighbourhood Plan over many years, and it was voted in with a huge
96% majority vote on a 51% turnout. It is a very intelligent document. It has
no blanket objection to development, but does say that development should be
appropriate in scale, design and character of the rural area of Brereton, and
that it should not distort that character. It says that small groups of one or
two properties built over time would be appropriate, supporting the rural
economy and providing accommodation for those with local livelihoods, which seems
reasonable.
I
warmly welcomed the plan when it was produced and when it was adopted. However,
the Brereton example is one of several in which planning applications that are
contradictory to the best intentions of local residents have been approved by the
inspectorate. Brereton is a parish of 470 houses. Within the last month, one
development of no fewer than 190 houses has been allowed on appeal. Another
application for 49 houses is coming down the track. That is more than half the
size again of the parish.
Because
Brereton has very few facilities—for example, it does not have a doctors’
surgery—nearby Holmes Chapel will be pressurised further. That village already
has hundreds of recently built properties or properties for which permission
has been given. The health centre is full, the schools are under pressure and
traffic pressures render roads dangerous. Unlike Brereton, Holmes Chapel has
not yet completed its local Neighbourhood Plan, but people there are now asking
whether it is worth the time and effort of completing one.
The
position is the same in Goostrey, another nearby village that is in the process
of developing its Neighbourhood Plan. A resident and member of the Goostrey Parish
Council Neighbourhood Plan Team wrote to me. He says that such decisions are “demotivating
when it comes to creating Neighbourhood Plans, and that they make encouraging
people to get involved in the Goostrey plan much harder”—he refers not only to
the Brereton decision, but to the inconsistency of two recent decisionsdown the road in Sandbach, where one application for a
substantial housing development was dismissed based on the Neighbourhood Plan,
and another, cheek-by-jowl down the road, was approved with the Neighbourhood
Plan carrying little or no weight, even though there was no five-year housing
supply in both cases.
I
have been told by local residents that what really offended people in Brereton
was the fact that
“at
the public examination of the Brereton Neighbourhood Plan in November 2015 at
Sandbach Town Hall, the Examiner insisted our Plan and its policies were
sufficiently robust to counteract mass housing development and protect the
rural character of the Parish. He asserted publicly that Brereton, as a rural
Parish, did not have a responsibility to provide mass housing towards the wider
strategic housing target—yet, the Appeal Inspectorate essentially has argued
the complete opposite. Why are Government representatives involved in planning
matters holding completely opposing and inconsistent views?”
Another
resident in yet another Parish who has worked for almost two years with
neighbours to develop a Neighbourhood Plan area designation has now resigned
from the Steering Group, in what the constituent calls “total disillusionment”,
saying:
“I do
not understand how this decision is either fair or reasonable…I conclude that
the Neighbourhood Planning Process is a Government-sponsored confidence trick”.
Those
are strong words, but they express how many of my constituents feel. Another
said that
“there
seems little point in producing a Neighbourhood Plan if it is considered
irrelevant.”
That is what I am
saying. Time and again, our constituents are being encouraged to produce Neighbourhood
Plans. About two years ago, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford
(Nick Boles), then a Minister in the Department for Communities and Local
Government, came at my invitation to Sandbach town hall to talk to residents
concerned about the barrage of applications by developers to build thousands of
houses across my constituency. He said that the way to protect our local
communities was by developing Neighbourhood Plans. That galvanised communities
such as those that I have mentioned into working towards Neighbourhood Plans.
As others have said, some residents have put hundreds of hours into doing so.
My hon. Friend
describes a situation that I am sure we all recognise well. In my experience,
many local communities engage positively with their neighbourhood and local
plans to identify the housing need in their area, and then plan accordingly.
Does she share my frustration, however, that because of the robust protections
afforded to the Bristol and Bath green belt to the north of my constituency,
despite my communities having made plans in Somerset, much of the former’s
housing demand is being displaced southwards, so we end up having to absorb
that as well, outwith our planning?
I do very much empathise
with my hon. Friend’s concerns.
Another
resident says that unless Neighbourhood Plans are given significant weight—that
is what I and many colleagues have asked the Minister to ensure—their community
“would
advise others not to put the time and effort into what is increasingly looking
like a futile and wasteful exercise”.
Another
resident pointed out that the Factsheet I referred to states, in response to
the question,
“should
a community produce a Neighbourhood Plan where the Local Plan may not be
up-to-date?”,
that
through
“a Neighbourhood
Plan, communities can have a real say about local development…and protect
important local green spaces”.
It
also states that
“the
NPPF is very clear that where a planning application conflicts with a Neighbourhood
Plan that has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally
be granted (NPPF para. 198)”.
Contradictorily,
in the case of Brereton, the inspector’s report allowing the appeal for these
190 houses stated:
“Reference
was made to paragraph 198 of the Framework, which provides that where a
planning application conflicts with a Neighbourhood Plan (as in this case)”—
he
acknowledged that—
“that
has been brought into force, planning permission should not normally be
granted”.
So
far, so good. It goes on to say:
“However,
the position is not ‘normal’ in that as NP policy HOU01 is clearly a relevant
policy for the supply of housing, and is in conformity with Local Plan policies
which are themselves out of date”—
meaning
there is no current Neighbourhood Plan—
“only
limited weight can be afforded to the policy”.
As my
residents are saying, it looks as though the Department is saying that
an application that conflicts with a Neighbourhood Plan would result in refusal
of a planning permission, even though a Local Plan is not up to date—that is in
the Factsheet—but the Planning Inspectorate is saying that a Neighbourhood
Plan can be given only limited weight for the very reason that the local plan
is out of date.
In
conclusion, I ask Ministers to clarify the weight—the actual weight—to be given
to made Neighbourhood Plans in the absence of a Local Plan, and also to provide
increased weight to a draft plan because of the stage it has reached. Many of
these communities that are now in the process of developing plans have become
disillusioned, as I said. There are many months still to go before their plans
can be finalised, and they want to know whether it is worth continuing.
Let
me finally ask if we could have a fairer methodology for calculating a
deliverable five-year land supply, because the head of planning strategy at
Cheshire East Council has confirmed to me:
“If
we could count all our current permissions, the Borough would have a 5-year
supply as things stand.”
But
things do not stand there because the problem arises from the fact that
developers do not build out. They are tardy, and they are deliberately tardy
because they simply want to get more and more permissions. They are, as
colleagues have said, gaming the system.
Fiona Bruce
MP seeks more support for Arthritis sufferers at meeting with Health Minister
Fiona Bruce MP
met with the Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State at the Department of Health, David Mowat, at the Minister’s invitation after her
speaking on the issue in the House of Commons, to consider the impacts of
arthritis and press for more Government action on this vital issue. Alongside Jim
Shannon MP and representatives from Arthritis UK, they discussed prompt
and decisive action which might be taken, so that people throughout the UK
might no longer be forced to suffer due to this crippling condition.
They
talked over a range of issues, three key points of which were:
1 - There should be an acceptance throughout the NHS
that Arthritis is a long term condition and monitored on a regular basis as
with other similar conditions
2 - NICE Guidelines on Osteoarthritis, which set out
model questions for GPs, to ask, should be applied nationally and not just in
certain postcode areas.
3 - The number of Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy
sessions recommended by a GP for an OA patient should be expanded from just 1
or 2 to as many as 6
Fiona Bruce MP said
“Talking to constituents and hearing
their stories has really given me an insight into the terrible pain, isolation and fatigue
suffered by millions of people throughout the UK on a daily basis, caused by
this dreadful disease”.
In fact, around
one in seven people in the UK live with arthritis, and three in four people
with arthritis and joint pain, according to a survey carried out for Arthritis
Research UK, say pain stops them living life to the full.
Fiona
continued
“Arthritis has for too long found itself
at the bottom of the heap, as far as acknowledgement of medical conditions are
concerned, with treatment and care too often inadequate or inconsistent. I hope
that this meeting with the Department of Health might be a positive step on a
long, but significant, journey towards ensuring those with arthritis are given
the help they need”.
The meeting follows a Parliamentary debate on the 20th
October, which for the first time in five years sought to examine the impacts
of arthritis. The debate received a great amount of cross party support, with
numerous MPs bringing the issue to the fore. In this debate, Fiona powerfully
told the story of a constituent, Christine Walker, a long-time sufferer of arthritis and supporter of the charity
Arthritis UK, emphasising the need for the Government to take action on the
issue.
In response to hearing of Fiona’s meeting with the Minister,
Christine said
“I hope
that by exposing people to the terrible impacts of arthritis, they may start to
listen up and view arthritis as the serious condition it is, which must be
tackled. The Parliamentary debate was vital in this, and I am so pleased to
hear that Fiona and other MPs have met with a Minister. I look forward to hearing
about positive and decisive action which might result.”
Fiona
Bruce delivers Goostrey Community Primary School Campaign to Downing Street
Fiona Bruce
MP delivered a campaign by children at Goostrey Community Primary School to 10
Downing Street. The children had created numerous
colourful drawings of backpacks with messages written on, urging world leaders
to fulfil their promise that all children should get the chance to go to
school. This was part of a wider national initiative - the ‘Send my
Friend to School’ campaign - which seeks to bringtogether thousands
of children across the UK to speak up for the right to education, and remind
world leaders of their promise that all children should get the chance to go to
school.
Fiona Bruce MP said
“I took the
backpacks
the children so beautifully drew and wrote messages on to 10 Downing Street,
along with a personal letter to the Prime Minister herself, as I wanted to bring the school’s
involvement in the campaign to the attention of the Prime Minister, Theresa May
MP, and relay to her how enthusiastic and concerned these pupils in my
constituency are. Their passionate
engagement with the campaign powerfully highlights how being an active citizen
continues to bring out the best in our young people in local communities and in
the wider world.”
After
hearing about Fiona Bruce MP’s presentation of the campaign by children at
Goostrey Community Primary School to 10 Downing Street, Head Teacher Miss Lyndsey Atkins said
“As Head Teacher I am very proud of the
pupils at Goostrey School and their involvement in this project. They care
greatly about children’s rights and especially their right to an
education. We are pleased that Fiona Bruce has listened to the voice of
our pupils and taken it right to the heart of politics at 10 Downing Street. “
Fiona Bruce
is a member of the House of Commons International Development Select Committee,
who has worked with other MPs on the issue of global education for some time. Education
in the developing world is widely recognised as one of the best of aid
investment and to have wide ranging benefits, giving children not only the opportunity to better their own lives,
but also improve their country more widely. Over the last five years, the UK
has been able to support over 11 million children, including 5.3 million girls,
access primary and lower secondary education, and in their election manifesto,
the Conservative Party pledged to give another 11 million children in developing
countries a decent education by 2020.
Fiona continued
“The
United Kingdom is doing a great deal to help such children through the UK Aid
money we give, and I see this as I travel across the world as part of my role
on the International Development Select Committee. In many countries we are
helping to build schools, pay for desks and write school books in different
languages. This is something we can be very proud of as a nation, though there
is always more that can be done. This is why the ‘Send my Friend to School’
campaign is so important.”
Graham
Brady MP is invited guest at Congleton Conservatives Dinner
Congleton
Conservatives invited Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West at a dinner
held at The Hunter’s Lodge near Sandbach. Members of Crewe and Nantwich Conservative
Association were also invited.
Being presented with Congleton Apple Juice!
Mr
Brady spoke of his role as the Chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, of
which Fiona Bruce MP is a member, and gave an entertaining view from inside the
House of Commons of the recent Prime Ministerial Leadership race leading to Theresa
May’s appointment. As Chairman of the 1922 Committee, he was responsible for
the ballots involving MPs to select their leader following former Prime
Minister David Cameron stepping down in June.
MP
Launches ‘Labelled for Life’ Guide in House of Commons
Fiona Bruce has
launched a new resource produced by the Mother’s Union designed to help parents
respond to the rise in sexting, online advertising and commercialisation of
children and young people which is campaigning campaigner for better safeguards
for children online.
The new
resource, Labelled for Life: Managing the Commercial World as a Family, builds
upon Mothers’ Union’ successful Bye Buy Childhood campaign and addresses the
proliferation of online advertising, user generated content and includes
updates to marketing and media regulations that have been made following recent
policy changes. Labelled for Life offers a practical and accessible guide to
parents and carers to help them understand and ensure the safety of their
children amid the latest developments in technology.
Speaking at the
launch in the House of Commons, Fiona
Bruce, MP for the Congleton Constituency, highlighted how half of parents
in the UK do not feel equipped to deal with the commercial world, with over a
third feeling they have little or no control over the content their children
are viewing on mobile phones and social networking sites. “We
have all benefited from advances in technology in this generation but parents
often feel ill equipped to ensure their children can engage with this new world
in safety. Labelled for Life provides a starting point for both parents and
carers to begin that conversation”.
As well as
advice to combat online commercialisation, Labelled for Life also provides
practical tips for parents and carers on talking to children about money and
budgeting, peer pressure and bullying, sex and healthy relationships, and where
to go for further advice in the event of serious complaints or criminal
activity.
Labelled for
Life works on the basis that while the commercial world is now part of life, rather
than shield children from it, they need to be equipped to manage it and engage
with it safely and securely. Labelled for Life recommends that parents spend
responsibly, put in place sensible safeguards and manage children’s
expectations around what they can consume.
Rachel Aston, Social Policy Manager at
Mothers’ Union, and author of the guide, said; “Our intention is
that children won’t feel that their value and identity is tied up with big
brands, what they look like or what they own; but instead that they understand
and feel secure in their own inherent value."
To view more
information and resources to help combat the commercialisation and
sexualisation of childhood please visit www.mothersunion.org/childhood.
Fiona
Bruce MP was given a very warm welcome when she visited the Congleton Sorting
Office to thank postmen and women for their hard work at Christmastime.
Fiona Bruce said “I
had a fascinating time at Congleton Sorting Office learning how our post men
and women sort and deliver letters and parcels. I was particularly impressed to
hear that by taking no holidays in the weeks up to Christmas they work
incredibly hard to get the post in our post boxes delivered to our homes for
Christmas before Christmas day, and aim to have the whole sorting office clear
by then!”
Fiona continued “The
number of items delivered and the increase at Christmas time are staggering –
this week they will deliver 300,000 items to 19,357 addresses in Congleton
which will include 28,000 parcels and next week that total number will rise to
half a million items! All of this is done by the regular 68 staff with no
additional help!”
“What also impressed me
was the very positive atmosphere in the sorting office – it is clearly a pleasant
place to work with a real emphasis on serving the public well.”
Fiona Bruce concluded“A huge thank you to all
our dedicated postmen and women for their incredible dedication, hard work and
reliability in all weathers.”
Fiona Bruce MP attends the Rode Runner Community Transport 2 Year Celebration
Fiona attended an event at Scholar Green Village Hall to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the Rode Runner Community Transport Service. This service offers trips for people unable to get around easily without support, providing opportunities to visit places from Chatsworth House, to the Trafford Centre, Bridgemere or event the Flu Clinic - the Rode Runner Community Transport Service offers invaluable services for so many in this community.
The event was well attended by many of the service's users, giving opportunity for all to enjoy cake, tea and sparkling wine, take part in a raffle and catch up with service users, volunteers and friends. This is a work that will continue to be supported having received funding for another year.
Last week the Prime Minister
confirmed that freedom of religion and freedom of speech lie at the heart of
Britain’s “strong tradition” of religious tolerance. This week, as we mark
International Human Rights Day, it is vital to remember that religious rights
are human rights.
Freedom of thought, conscience
and religion – more often abbreviated to “freedom of religion or belief” – is a
human right for everyone, guaranteed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. And yet too often it is a neglected right: at best ignored or
misunderstood, at worst severely violated.
As we mark International Human
Rights Day across the world, we recognise that all human rights set out in the Universal
Declaration are inter-dependent and equally important. Freedoms of religion,
expression, association and movement, for example, hang together. There is no
hierarchy of rights. However, if people are denied the freedom to choose,
practice, share and change their beliefs, what use are the other freedoms? The
outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Dr Heiner
Bielefeldt, describes freedom of religion or belief as a “gateway” to other
freedoms.
Around the world, freedom of
religion or belief has never been under as much attack as it is today. “Massive
violations of freedom of religion or belief are currently taking place,”
according to Dr Bielefeldt. The genocide facing Christians, Yazidis and Muslims
at the hands of ISIS in Syria and Iraq is unspeakable. The ethnic cleansing of
the Muslim Rohingyas from Burma is horrific. Baha’is in Iran, Ahmadiyya Muslims
in Pakistan and Indonesia, Uighur Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetan
Buddhists in China, and Christians across the Middle East, Africa and Asia and
in parts of Latin America such as Cuba, face continuing persecution. And, as
the latest report by the International Humanist and Ethical Union illustrates,
in parts of the world it is as dangerous to not have a religious belief as it
is to have one. Atheists such as Alexander Aan in Indonesia are jailed because
they do not believe in God. Article 18 of the UDHR, properly applied, should
protect the rights of everyone, of all beliefs and none.
In his final report to the United
Nations, Dr Bielefeldt argues that this right is “multifaceted”, protecting not
simply freedom of worship but “the free development of religious or
belief-related identities, bearing witness to one’s existential conviction by
freely communicating” beliefs with others. It is about “all aspects of
religious and belief-related life”, not only what one believes in one’s heart
and mind, but about the community which arises from that and the conduct that
it entails. He confirms what the Equalities Commissioner has said, and what the
new report from the Lawyers Christian Fellowship and the Evangelical Alliance
report “Speak Up” concludes – that freedom of religion or belief is important,
being “in turn foundational for many of our other freedoms, human rights and
civil liberties”, and for being one means of inspiring contributions towards
the common good through community and voluntary engagement.
Governments, Dr Bielefeldt
argues, have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the implementation
of human rights standards. In too many parts of the world, it is the State that
is the primary violator of freedom of religion or belief. Whether through
unjust restrictions and regulations and violent persecution, as in communist
countries such as China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea, or through
discriminatory laws that contribute to a climate of intolerance and extremism,
such as blasphemy laws in Pakistan and Indonesia and their equivalent in Burma
or through not passing or promoting laws ensuring the freedom of the press as in
Bangladesh, or through allowing a culture of impunity to exist where
perpetrators of religiously-motivated violence are never brought to justice, or
through an education curriculum that promotes hatred or intolerance. According
to the Special Rapporteur, “arguably the most widespread pattern of
State-induced violations of freedom of religion or belief relates to harassment
by an uncooperative bureaucracy that may treat people belonging to certain
religious communities with contempt, hostility or suspicion”.
Developed countries are by no
means exempt from this challenge, whilst, of course, restrictions on freedom of
religion or belief here cannot be compared with the horrendous persecution,
torture, and even deaths suffered in countries such as North Korea today. It is
because that country is such a closed society with so little freedom of belief
or speech that I have campaigned in Parliament for many years for the BBC to
start broadcasting into North Korea just as it did into Russia, Eastern
Germany, and Burma, when they were closed countries. We now know from people
there how BBC broadcasts helped them understand that there was a different,
more democratic way for a society to live and encouraged oppressed people to
fight for change. That is why I am so pleased that the BBC has now just
announced that it will start to broadcast into North Korea, a country in which
the state has, until recently, had virtually total control of the media and
thereby such severe control over the mind-set of individuals – requiring
unwavering “worship” of their political leader.
The outgoing UN Special
Rapporteur believes there is a “lack of awareness” around the world however,
not just in closed countries such as North Korea, about the importance of
freedom of religion or belief, and that the full scope of this basic human
right is “often underestimated”. On this International Human Rights Day it is good
to recognise that.
In 212AD,
Tertullian said: “It is a fundamental human right that every man should worship
according to his own convictions” and in 1819 Thomas Jefferson argued that: “The
constitutional freedom of religion is the most inalienable and sacred of all
human rights”. In 2016, at home and abroad, it is time to actively promote,
protect and uphold this basic right of freedom of religion or belief once more.
That is why it was so encouraging to hear the Prime Minister confirm in the
House of Commons recently the importance of maintaining “‘the jealously guarded
principle’ of the ability to speak freely…respectfully and responsibly about
one’s religion” in this country today.
Fiona Bruce is Member of Parliament for
Congleton and Chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.
Fiona
Bruce MP Encourages her Constituents to Prepare for Winter Flooding Risk
Fiona Bruce MP
encourages her constituents to prepare for the risk of winter flooding. At an
event in Parliament, MPs and their staff were invited along to hear from the
Environment Agency and various Government departments about action being taken
to reduce the risk of flooding this winter, which also highlighted the
importance of people, businesses and communities being well prepared in the
case of such an emergency.
Fiona Bruce MP said
“Nationally, 1 in 6 properties are at
risk from flooding, and some homes and businesses in the constituency of
Congleton are in or near a flood risk area. I have been encouraged to hear that
the Government is continuing to play a key role in improving flood protection
to those at risk, and that Government departments and agencies are taking
action to ensure my constituents will be well protected from the risk of
flooding this winter.”
Fiona continued
“It is also vital that people and
families in their homes, businesses and other organisations are well equipped
in case of a flood event to reduce the chances of their lives and livelihoods
being disrupted. I want to ensure that individuals and communities in my
constituency have the information and confidence to take some simple steps to
prepare for such emergencies.”
The event
highlighted several practical and simple steps which can be taken to protect
your home and business from flooding.
1.Identify
a safe place where you, your family and pets can move to in an emergency to
keep away from floodwater
2.Check your buildings and contents
insurance policy and confirm you are covered for flooding
3.Prepare
your home for flooding by installing flood resilient measures – a key solution
to reducing the costs of repair of homes and buildings
4.If
flooding is likely, prepare a grab bag with warm clothes, blankets, mobile
phone, medication, water and food supplies, a torch and a battery and important
personal documents.
Fiona
Bruce MP and Gather of Cheshire promote Small Business Saturday
Fiona
Bruce MP visited Gather of Cheshire in Congleton in advance of this year’s
Small Business Saturday on 3rd December.
Small
Business Saturday has been held in the UK every year since 2013 and aims to
encourage shoppers to ‘shop local’ and promote their local small business. More
information on how to participate can be found at smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com.
Fiona Bruce MP said “It
was an absolute pleasure to visit Gather recently. This is such an eclectic and
friendly business that really offers something no-one else is locally at the
moment. It is run by a group of incredibly creative people and the way the
business has evolved and grown since it opened a little over a year ago is
remarkable. Gather is a shining example of a real community enterprise.”
Fiona continued “Every
time I visit small, local shops such as Gather I am always impressed by the
community minded nature of their business and employees, whether it be sourcing
local products, helping residents home with their shopping or providing
services such as a post office, parcel service or cash machine that may not
otherwise be locally accessible. It is important that the Government realise
the importance of small, independently run establishments to our economy, and
our communities, and do all they can to help them prosper.”
Jude James, owner of
Gather said “It is really good to be a small business in
Congleton. There is a real sense of community, we send business to other local
shops and they do the same in turn. I wish more small businesses would come and
trade in Congleton! If you love what you
do, as we do here, and embrace the town, the people of Congleton will embrace
you. We want people to come here and feel comfortable and involved. If people
can see what is on offer in the town then hopefully they will look to shop here
before going out of town.”
Gather
sources its products locally whether it be coffee, cakes, or the local
Congleton born owners of the Cheshire Mersey Wine School who do tasting
evenings.
They
also offer children’s birthday parties with a high tea and craft activity –
though these can be tailored to adults too!
For
more information about Gather and their workshops they can be found on
Facebook, and followed on Instagram and Twitter.
Fiona
Bruce MP hosts visit from former Leading Canadian MP Joy Smith
Fiona Bruce MP hosted a visit to the UK from former
Canadian MP Joy Smith, to discuss ways in which the UK might learn from Canada to
address the issue of prostitution. Fiona hosted a number of meetings with MPs
from a variety of political parties to consider what steps can be taken,
learning from Canada’s example to help protect young women in the UK – often in
their early teens - from being abused by being drawn into a life on the streets
as prostitutes.
In 2014, under the leadership of then MP Joy Smith, Canadian
MPs took legislation through their Parliament making it an offence to pay for
sex, but wholly decriminalising the women involved as prostitutes. This
followed similar laws in Sweden and Norway about which Fiona Bruce has spoken
in Parliament. Northern Ireland and France have now followed suit.
Fiona
Bruce MP said
“Clear
evidence from Sweden and Norway, and now Canada, shows that tackling
prostitution as those countries have done, in a way which is compassionate
towards the women involved and which treats them not as criminals but as
victims and abused, has shown changing the law as they have done not only helps
reduce prostitution, but also in its wake, human trafficking.”
Fiona Bruce MP is a member of the All Party Parliamentary
Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade which produce a report, ‘Shifting
the Burden’. This made clear that while the law does not have the capacity to
end prostitution, better laws can limit, as far as possible, the extent of
prostitution and the suffering associated with it, and any meaningful attempt
to do this should address the demand for paid for sex directly.
Fiona
Continued
“Although
it is early days in Canada, initial indications there are that where enforced
this new legislation is having a positive impact, as in Sweden and Norway where
such laws have been in place much longer, as I spoke about in Parliament some
time ago. In Canada now, they are seeing a reduction in the levels of both prostitution
and trafficking, and if the UK is not to fall behind international best
practice in this field, then reviewing our laws in this area should not be
delayed any longer.”
The main cause of deaths and injuries on the road is
excessive speed and around 70% of drivers break the speed limit in residential
areas so schemes such as Speed Watch try to alter drivers’ attitudes and
behaviour towards speeding
