Monday July 14th: In the House of Commons I raised with the Foreign Secretary concerns expressed by many in Crawley about the security and humanity situation currently in Gaza.
Tuesday July 15th: I host a meeting in Parliament this afternoon with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and ABTA (representing Gatwick charter airlines) discussing Air Passenger Duty. The last Budget cut part of the tax but I'm calling for further reductions as an island trading nation and the abolition of charging under 12 year olds to help with the cost of family holidays.
Wednesday July 16th: House of Commons: I welcomed the latest unemployment claimant figures for Crawley, now down by over half since 2010 at 2% (and the youth figure at 2.3%, a three quarters cut from four years ago).
Thursday July 17th: Delighted to speak at the breakfast launch of Young Start-Up Talent 2015 this in Crawley Town Football Clubs's Checkatrade.com Stadium. The competition allows local 16-25 year olds with entrepreneurial ideas to pitch their business plan to area firms for the chance to win £50,000 worth of support to get started.
Later in Parliament I’m pleased to pay tribute to Autism Support Crawley and Autism Sussex in a debate on the issue.
Friday July 18th: After making a jokey Twitter comment about wanting to dress down in Parliament on hot weather days Good Morning Britain interview me about weather I’ll wear Union Jack shorts in the Commons!
In the afternoon I’m at Thomas Bennett Community College to present a Speaker's award to the Youth Council/Student Voice for their work raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Proud of their positive attitude. Then in the evening I attend an amusing performance of 'When We Were Married' by J.B. Priestley at the beautiful Ifield Barn Theatre - grateful for the invite - fantastic amateur dramatics in an ancient barn can't be beaten!
Saturday July 19th: Meet with Crawley Community First Responders - volunteers trained to respond to emergency calls through the 999 system in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service providing immediate care to patients in Crawley. My thanks for their service.