For many of us, to think of 2022 will be to remember Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
We can be thankful that, in June, Her Majesty was able to see the outpouring of love and affection for her, at the culmination of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations from the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
It was with great sadness that we heard the news in September that the Queen had passed away. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the honour of meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Crawley in 2006, and it was some comfort to speak in the House of Commons about how many of us in Crawley felt about Her Majesty’s lifetime of duty and service.
The words of Her Majesty following the attacks in the United States on 11th September 2001, where she spoke about grief being the price we pay for love, are timeless.
As we look forward to the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III in May 2023, in recent weeks I attended the unveiling of a plaque in Westminster Hall by the King to commemorate the lying in state of the Queen.
In May of this year I took the decision to step down as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blood Cancer, which I established in 2016 and had led since its founding. The Group is in capable hands and I remain a Vice Chair, continuing to pursue issues affecting people living with blood cancer.
This includes the provision of Evusheld, which provides much-needed protection for the immunocompromised where vaccines, to guard against Covid-19 for example, are not as effective.
Throughout 2022 my Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill has been progressing through Parliament. The Bill would ban British hunters from bringing ‘trophies’ of endangered and vulnerable animals into this country, and completed its Commons second reading last month. It will commence the next stage of its parliamentary journey in the new year and work on this remains ongoing.
This month, the Government approved Crawley as the location of a new Community Diagnostic Centre. This will see patients benefit from quicker access to treatment and lifesaving diagnostic tests close to home, and I am following up with the Health & Social Care Secretary about these plans.
The issues I have raised in my columns over the last fortnight are just a snapshot of my work over the previous twelve months. If I may be able to assist in 2023, please do not hesitate to let me know, either by emailing me directly via: henry.smith.mp@parliament.uk or by writing to me in Parliament: Henry Smith MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Henry Smith MP