On Thursday in the House of Commons a few words were expressed by Huw Merriman from Bexhill and Battle and there was a response from Nigel Huddleston who is one of the Ministers for the DCMS Department. Huw referred to two specific locations in Sussex, both of which were in East Sussex but he referred to the Sussex Modern Trail which sounds like a great subject for him to work with his colleagues on. It would be fantastic if we could get all of the 16 Sussex MPs to focus on Sussex in terms of its modern and indeed its historic trails and indeed to promote the businesses across Sussex. One of the points in the year to enable this is Sussex day which takes place on the 16th June. Sadly the number of times that Sussex MPs appear to work together is very modest. What can we do to persuade them to start working together? The discussion on Thursday is available here and it was as follows.

Huw: Last weekend I visited the beautiful Rathfinny vineyard, and last summer I met the Minister in the De La Warr pavilion. These two gems are part of the Sussex Modern trail, which links our vineyards with our cultural and artistic icons. Would the Minister meet me to discuss why Southern rail is not promoting tourism offers such as those, which would not only provide a great boost to its own passenger numbers—needed after covid-19—but boost tourism in Sussex and elsewhere in the country?

Nigel: Indeed, I was delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency last year. He has many gems—cultural, historic, heritage—as well as tourist attractions, so I can see why so many people would want to visit his part of the world. I would be delighted to meet him to discuss his proposals, some of which would involve engagement across Departments, and I would be happy to facilitate those conversations as well.