In solidarity with Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin I have spent the last week defending the right of politicians to be normal. Not that I feel that normal at the moment, typing one handed and with another X-ray scheduled for this week, living in dread that I am about to go from one handed to no handed! Safe to say there will be no clubbing for me.
But I do think the biggest slice of normality for any MP is to make sure you live alongside your constituents. It always gives mine the chance to tell me what they are really thinking as I roam around the constituency, and it means I use the same services, am annoyed by the same potholes, and look forward to the same local events, like the Food Festival which returns next month alongside Romsey Show the following weekend.
The issue of nitrate neutrality and the strain that is putting on the planning system is still rumbling on, and I had a useful meeting on this earlier this week. There is sometimes an assumption that this is just a problem for big developers with deep pockets. That is far from the case, and I am very conscious it can impact small change of use applications, extensions etc right here, stopping local families from getting on with their plans.
