This has been a VERY busy week!
I'm sure many of you will have been keeping up with events in Westminster and will know that we managed to pack a lot in to the past seven days.
On Monday the Government brought forward the landmark Industrial Relations Bill which will bring the UK in line with countries like Italy, Australia and Canada in requiring key sectors to provide a minimum level of service during industrial action. This is a safety issue, ensuring that the right to strike doesn't put lives at risk.
Tuesday was supposed to be dominated by the Online Safety Bill and I was pleased to support its passage later in the day, but the news that came to dominate was the decision by the Government to use Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 - preventing Royal Assent for the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
This is not an issue of equalities and the Government has said that if the Scottish Government was to redraft the Bill, it would not block it, but as it stands, Holyrood is legislating in a way which would impact on England and Wales where it has no mandate. Allowing this would set a dangerous precedent and I support the legal advice to stop this.
On Wednesday, Parliament voted on removing hundreds of pieces of retained EU law from the statute book.
I have had a large number of emails about this from people who have been mislead by a Web based campaign led by a Labour MP. The removal of these laws does not end workers rights, maternity rights or any of the other alarmist claims made by this campaign. It simply requires us to follow up on the promise made in the EU Referendum to take control of all our laws, so that decisions about this country are made in this country.
Also this week I submitted a response to the Places for Everyone consultation about the proposed developments at Stakehill and Slattocks, which I oppose. I'll always stand with local residents in their fight to protect our environment. We need more housing, but building the wrong things in the wrong place helps no one.
I also had more meetings based on your emails and letters to me, including discussions about Veterans' support and local ring and ride services. I enjoy these meetings so please keep writing in.
On Thursday I was in Brecon as part of my Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme course to visit the Battle School. Our forces are important to me and I'm getting a lot from learning more on the Scheme.
Back in the Constituency I caught up with some of the nominees from my Small Business Awards competition - we have some amazing people in our communities and it's been brilliant to meet them in person.
I also had my regular catch-up with Rochdale Sixth Form following their recent Outstanding Ofsted inspection - our schools and colleges are so important to the future of our area and I'm really grateful for their continued engagement.
There's another busy week ahead, so I will hopefully have lots to share with you next week too.
Until then, stay safe.
