Blog - Chris Matheson MP

The Universal Right to Education

Every year, several Chester schools participate in the Send My Friend To School campaign. It is a programme that highlights the plight of children across the world who can’t access education. And the numbers are astonishing. Over 260 million children across the world are not in education. I’ll repeat that…

Saudi Arabian arms sales

The government lost a legal case last month, when the Court of Appeal found that the UK’s arms exports to Saudi Arabia where operating illegally. Arms exports are a difficult issue. Many skilled jobs depend not just on armaments, but on IT, electronics, and of course aerospace. Indeed in the…

Our senior citizens deserve better

The decision by BBC management to introduce means testing for free tv licenses for the over-75’s has caused consternation. So many of our older senior citizens rely on the free tv licence, which was introduced by the last Labour government. It counters social isolation amongst the elderly, and is a…

Remembering D-Day

This week we celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when the invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis began. Seventy-five years is a long time, but it is never too long to remember, and to give thanks. We know now that the war ended in Europe on May 7th the…

Local environmental action

At the first meeting of the new council since the local elections earlier this month, I was pleased to see cross-party support for a motion on climate change. I know that members of Chester’s Sustainability Forum, which I helped set up and I am proud to be part of, had…

Turning the Tide on Climate Change

Recently, transport was disrupted in our big cities by climate change protestors. Meanwhile, outside Chester Town Hall on recent Fridays, school children have gathered away from school to make similar protests. These are both part of wider global activities to protest against the lack of action to address the growing…

The Scandal of Homelessness

Recently I have received numerous emails complaining about the increase in homelessness in Chester. Sadly, too many of these have complained not about the plight of the homeless, but the sight of the homeless. The mess of scattered personal belongings in shop fronts. The makeshift shelters to protect from the…

Cuts have Consequences

Surely nobody can have failed to be horrified by the wave of knife crime currently sweeping across our country. Part of the problem is undoubtedly increased criminality and I have no problem with tougher sentences for anyone caught in possession of a knife. But the causes run deeper. And although…

The Disaster of No Deal

Deal or No Deal: that is the question. Outside Parliament these last few months there have been numerous protestors from both sides of the Brexit debate and by and large, they seem to co-exist amicably. There have been occasions of course when some extremist brexiteers have threatened MPs and one…

Hunting concerns

Not all debates in the House of Commons take place in the main chamber. There is also a smaller side chamber, named the Grand Committee Room, but more commonly known as Westminster Hall, because it sits next to the historic Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster.…

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