Welcome to this week’s constituency newsletter for residents in Reading West and Mid Berkshire. I am devastated by yesterday’s appalling terror attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, and my thoughts first and foremost are with the victims and their families. May their memories be a blessing.
Antisemitism, violence and terror have no place in our society. It is heartbreaking that on the holiest day for the Jewish community, families were not safe to attend their local synagogue.
I know that our local police force will be doing what they can to reassure our Jewish neighbours here in Reading West and Mid Berkshire at this deeply worrying time. I have been in touch with Local Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Felicity Parker to seek information about additional support.
My fellow Reading MPs and I have reached out to local synagogues to offer support, and I would urge any constituents who are concerned to contact my office.
To keep up to date with what I am doing in Parliament and in the constituency, you can follow me on Facebook or Instagram.
Labour Party Annual Conference
I had a fantastic time earlier this week at Labour Party Conference. As the Prime Minister said in his speech, our country is at a fork in the road. We can choose division and decline or decency and renewal.
People in Reading West and Mid Berkshire rightly want our borders protected, immigration controlled, but have no truck with divisive or racist approaches. I am proud to represent a diverse community of decent minded people who want to pull together and for our country to succeed.
I was also pleased to see in the Prime Minister’s speech a focus on more apprenticeships. We are lucky here in Reading West and Mid Berkshire to have world class employers offering vocational opportunities – like AWE where the government have invested £15 billion.
This is alongside our commitment to reintroduce maintenance grants for those students who need them most. Your financial circumstances should not determine whether you can thrive at university, so we’re closing that gap.
The Prime Minster also committed to continue to improve our NHS. This Labour Government is already delivering more appointments and cutting waiting lists. But it was great to see him commit to going further with the announcement of plans for more online appointments for those who want them, to help speed up access to treatment.
In addition, I was delighted, earlier in the week with the announcement of £80m of funding to enable 2,000 more schools to join the early adopter scheme for free breakfast clubs, benefitting half a million more children from April 2026. This will free up time in the mornings for busy parents and put more money in their pockets – up to £450 in childcare savings.
And there was great news just before the start of Labour Party Conference that 530,000 children are now benefitting from this Labour Government’s expansion of funded childcare. That’s hundreds of thousands of families saving up to £7,500 per child per year, parents across Reading West and Mid Berkshire being able to take on more hours, and over half a million children receiving high-quality care in those crucial early years.
A decent Britain, a growing economy, reliable public services. That is the Britain Labour is building.
West Reading Safer Neighbourhood Forum
On Thursday evening, along with the local neighbourhood police sergeant, I met with residents at the West Reading Safer Neighbourhood Forum. I want to thank everybody who shared their experiences.
We heard about how the police are working to tackle the scourge of illegal e-bikes and e-scooters and antisocial behaviour hotspots. Residents also raised concerns about poor street lighting, fly-tipping, and speeding.
We all deserve to feel safe and secure where we live and tackling antisocial behaviour in our communities remains one of my top priorities. I will be working with the police and local councillors to address these concerns.
If you are worried about antisocial behaviour where you live you can report it to the police or alternatively, please feel free to contact my office.
Pangbourne and Whitchurch Sustainability Group
It was great earlier today to meet with members of the wonderful Pangbourne and Whitchurch Sustainability Group, known as PAWS.
They are an incredibly committed group of individuals, who have done some outstanding work locally. This includes campaigning to improve walking and cycling paths, creating a local tree trail, encouraging recycling at the local Pangbourne Fete, and many more initiatives. As well as this, they hold local events and meetings, and work with schools to offer clear, precise, and accurate information on issues surrounding the environment.
The group is particularly concerned with encouraging people locally to make their homes more energy efficient, and so have bought a thermal imaging camera which they lend out during the winter months, free of charge, for people to check their houses insulation. I would really encourage anybody who is interested in this to get in touch with PAWS here or look into joining their Facebook group.
Date for your diary
Meet Your MP, Burghfield Common, 2.00pm to 3.00pm on Sunday 19 October. If you live in Burghfield, Burghfield Common or nearby and would like to come along for a chat with tea and biscuits between 2.00pm and 3.00pm, you can register here.
My team will confirm the venue to those registered in advance of the event.