What have I been up to lately?

February 2003


Edward Davey on a recent visit to Jigsaw

New Job
Helping local charities
Meeting with Kingston Peace Council
Fighting to save Kingston Magistrates Court

New Job

The past few weeks have been extremely busy ones for me.

In my new role as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government and the Regions, I have been involved with some important bills currently going through Parliament.

One of the major bills currently being scrutinized is the Local Government Bill, and I have been the leading spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on this, requiring me to spend much of my time in the chamber or in committee. The Standing Committee sits twice a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.55 - 11.25 and 14.30 - 17.00.

To add to this I have also been involved with the Regional Assemblies Bill, and the Planning Bill.

Helping local charities

'Jigsaw' is a charity, active in Kingston and Surbiton, that provides professional grief support to help bereaved families and children to cope with the loss of a loved one.

As Jigsaw's patron, I attended the annual reception of the Childhood Bereavement Network on 14th January. They work very closely with Jigsaw and I am keen to promote the invaluable work they do, both in the constituency and in other areas in London.

I am currently liaising with Anne Davies, the Chief Executive of Jigsaw, to organise fund raising events and ways of raising the profile of Jigsaw to ensure those that are in need of the services know how to find them.

Meeting with Kingston Peace Association

On Tuesday 21st of January, I met with a number of constituents from the Kingston Peace Council that had come to lobby me about the possible war with Iraq and express their concern about the threat of the use of Nuclear Weapons.

I am keen to listen to constituents' concerns about this important issue. My casework team, based in the constituency, are already dealing with a huge amount of correspondence from constituents who are extremely concerned about Tony Blair's position.

Fighting to save Kingston Magistrates Court

At the local level I have been keeping up the fight to save Kingston Magistrates Court. I have had two meetings with Yvette Cooper, the Minister at the Lord Chancellor's Department, and am working with the local bench and the Lib Dem Council as they prepare the final submission.

I remain convinced that closing the court would be bad for local justice and hit local services, including the police.