This week in Parliament there is only one event that has published that involves a Sussex MP. It is taking place on Wednesday under the headline of “Environmental impacts of Rosebank oilfield” and the contributor is Caroline Lucas who is the Brighton Pavilion MP. It will be interesting to find out which other MPs will take part in that session. Before that that takes place, this afternoon there is also a debate involving two public petitions which are covered by the theme of “relating to local road user charging schemes” so perhaps some Sussex MPs might contribute. However, these petitions are relatively small and Sussex signatures are very modest. It will be fascinating to find out how it is discussed.

Last week in Parliament there were several events that involved Sussex MPs and some of them were very significant. On Monday there was a debate and vote that focused on the previous Prime Minister in the headline of “Privilege: Conduct of Right Hon. Boris Johnson”. The person who organised that event was Penny Mordaunt, the Government Leader of the House of Commons and at the end of her initial comment, she stated

The Committee’s report found that Mr Johnson “deliberately misled the House” and the Committee, and, in doing so, “committed a serious contempt”. It also found that Mr Johnson breached confidence, undermined the democratic process of the House and was complicit in a campaign of “abuse and attempted intimidation of the Committee.” It is for Members to decide whether the Committee’s findings, conclusions and proposed sanctions are correct and reasonable. That is the question in front of us today.

Two of our local MPs spoke during that significant debate. The first person was Caroline Lucas who stated in her initial contribution

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way; she is making a strong case. Does she agree that Members who seem to think that abstention is an appropriate response to this debate are wholly wrong and that this debate goes to the very heart of the democratic principles on which our democracy is founded? Those who are abstaining are guilty not just of cowardice, but complicity with the very contempt for which Boris Johnson has been found responsible.

The other Sussex contribution came from Peter Bottomley who is the Worthing West MP who included these words at the end of his piece

no matter how many good things we have done—the former Prime Minister did many good things—what do we do when we have done something wrong? Although this was on a pretty unimportant issue, on 2 December 1985 I managed to get two sentences into one line of a column of Hansard. My words were: “I made a mistake. I apologise.” For anyone else caught in the kind of situation we are considering today, let me say that I hope someone would advise that approach, and that it is the sort of advice I hope I would take. I will support the Committee.

Later in the debate Caroline Lucas added two more comments and also a Labour MP, Debbie Abrahams commented

I also have evidence of how the former Prime Minister deliberately deceived the House in February 2021 in relation to the publication of covid contracts. The hon. Members for Brighton, Pavilion and for Oxford West and Abingdon and I were involved in the High Court action, which showed what contracts had been published according to law and what had not.

At the end of that debate there were 353 MPs who voted in support of the event and only 7 MPs who voted against it. There were 177 Labours including our two Sussex MPs who voted in support of the proposal and 120 Conservatives who voted in support of the proposal and 7 more of them who opposed it. Our Sussex Conservatives who voted were Peter Bottomley, Mims Davies, Nick Gibb, Gillian Keegan and Tim Loughton and they all voted in favour of the proposal. In addition, Penny Mordaunt and Theresa May voted in favour of the proposal so it is concerning that eight of our Sussex Conservative MPs did not vote at all. Inevitably Caroline Lucas voted for the proposal.

Last Monday a debate of a petition entitled “Increase statutory maternity pay in line with cost of living crisis” the only Sussex contribution came from the Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies who contributed as a Minister. During her speech she stated

being a parent is an incredibly important and rewarding job. It is one that comes with a unique set of challenges, from recovering from birth with a newborn to balancing employment and care and, in my own life, being a sandwich carer, so I absolutely understand the challenges.

Several days later on Thursday there was a discussion entitled “Infected Blood Inquiry” and one of the two MPs who organised it was Peter Bottomley who was the only Sussex contribution. During his statement he included

I speak as someone whose mother had major blood transfusions during the peak period and so, it is on record, did my wife. My mother was the first person in our family to have an HIV test. She was clear. I take an HIV test four times a year, when I give blood.

All of these debates are really important even though the Boris Johnson debate with its voting was the one that involved most MPs.