Blog - Chris Matheson MP

Afghanistan

The recent events in Afghanistan have been heart breaking and infuriating to watch in equal measure. To see the Taliban regain control of most of the country after twenty years of progress is a dreadful prospect. Chester is a garrison city and I know personally several ex-servicemen and women from…

Proceeding with caution

This was supposedly the week when we were able to cast aside all Covid precautions and celebrate the summer and the back of the pandemic. Of course, it has not panned out like that, as cases are soaring in Chester and across the country. I will continue to wear a…

Voter suppression, plain and simple

This week the government confirmed plans to introduce into the Commons its proposals for how we vote in elections. And these changes could end up being hugely damaging. Because in my view they’re designed to stop people voting. The main proposal is to make people show photographic ID when they…

Planning for the future

Town and country planning sounds like a very dry subject, but I know how much people care about their localities and want a say in any new developments that might change the character of their areas. In recent years we have seen private developers build numerous new student residences in…

Helping the world’s poorest

The government found itself in a tight spot this week, and one of its own making. Several years ago the House of Commons passed – with wide cross-party support – a law change requiring 0.7% of national income to be spent on overseas aid. 0.7% really isn’t that much. But…

Fire and Rehire

At the start of every Parliamentary year, a ballot takes place for twenty MPs to be given time in the agenda to introduce legislation, known as Private Member’s Bills. I put in, along with a couple of hundred colleagues, but sadly the Deputy Speaker, who presides over the process, did…

Lucky 93

The State Opening of Parliament is one of the grand occasions in the Parliamentary year. The Queen comes to the Palace of Westminster, the Royal Standard is hoisted aloft as she arrives, and she proceeds to the House of Lords to read the Queen’s speech. The speech is actually written…

HRH Prince Philip

The death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, at the grand old age of ninety-nine, may not have been a surprise, but it is still a moment for national sadness and for national reflection. Prince Philip served with distinction in the Royal Navy during World War Two, in…

The Scourge of Misogyny

I was extremely saddened to hear of the news of the alleged abduction and killing of a young woman in London. Because it’s now before the courts I can’t refer to the case directly but it has sparked anger right across the country. While it may have come as a…

The fight to save Dale Barracks

Last week in the Commons I again raised the question of the Dale Barracks. The current government has a daft idea to close the barracks, and move all the soldiers based there to Weeton Barracks, north of Preston. In fact they want to move all the army in the North…

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