Sir Edward Leigh MP marks four decades in office

Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh (writes Joseph Verney) will celebrate forty years in office this summer, which makes him among the longest serving members of Parliament, both in Lincolnshire and nationally.

We had a meeting at Kexby Village Hall with a mock-up of the four-metre-high solar panels that will cover 10,000 acres of good land if proposals go ahead.

This would be more solar panels in one district than in the rest of the East Midlands put together.

In a speech in Strasbourg, Sir Edward Leigh has condemned war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine and called for their perpetrators to be brought to justice.

I have called on the Government to expand protection for agricultural land to prevent it being used for solar farms.

Gainsborough is threatened by a proposal for 10,000 acres of solar panels, more than the rest of the East Midlands combined.

If we didn’t know it already, one of the many side effects of the lockdown was realising quite how important internet connectivity is. Getting high-speed internet access to even the hardest-to-reach communities in Lincolnshire is very important for our businesses and families.

At the Guildhall today listening to concerns on rural broadband and getting villages like Walesby, Knaith Park, Riseholme, and Kexby fully connected.

The Government has committed £5 billion to roll out gigabit-capable broadband to rural and hard-to-reach areas.

Today I visited the excellent doctors, nurses, and staff of Caskgate Surgery here in Gainsborough.

They have concerns about the pressures surgeries are facing with increased burdens.

I had a meeting today with the chairs of Riseholme and Burton Parish Councils.

They have my full support in objecting to a new lorry park on green wedge land on the junction of the A15 and A46 at Lincoln.

I've been banging on about social insurance schemes like they have in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and elsewhere for years.

These systems tend to provide better health outcomes for less money.

It was a joy to take part in the ceremony kicking off the demolition of the old Co-op site in Gainsborough where the Market Place is being given new life.