Many of my constituents in Mid Norfolk have been left devastated by the terrible flooding just before Christmas, and in recent weeks.

With such a harsh cold snap upon us here in Mid Norfolk, I welcome the announcement that there is a Cold Weather Payment trigger in certain, particularly affected postcodes.

We are so lucky to have the Mid Norfolk Railway here in our part of Nelson’s County. It is a real tourist asset and a source of joy for so many.

The combination of Covid-19 and the Crash of 2008 have left this country facing the most serious crisis in our public finances since 1776.

Many of my constituents in Mid Norfolk have been left devastated by the terrible flooding just before Christmas, and in recent weeks.

Thousands of Mid Norfolk residents were devastated this Christmas by:

• Flooding
• Sewerage outflows
• Accompanying power cuts
• Poor response from UK Power Networks, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency

This isn’t good enough.

It is no secret that I have deep concerns about the high number of applications in our part of Norfolk – many of which are, often, highly inappropriate and on a scale that is unsustainable and out of keeping with the heritage and identity of our largely rural area, lacking the services and infrastructure needed to support them and the existing community, as well as clearly breaching the sustainable development criteria set out in the National Planning Policy Framework and 2011 Localism Act.

For too long our area has suffered from poor broadband coverage.

As a long-time advocate of the move towards renewable energy, I am a major supporter of Offshore Wind Energy – and have previously worked with local communities to ensure that the associated onshore infrastructure is located in the right place.