Today MPs consider ‘e-petition 707189 relating to the rules for political donations’ arranged by Irene Campbell, the Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran. The e-petition was created by Jeremy Stone described as ‘Tighten the rules on political donations’. He provided the initial comments

“We want the government to: Remove loopholes that allow wealthy foreign individuals to make donations into UK political parties (e.g. by funnelling through UK registered companies). Cap all donations to a reasonable amount. Review limits on the fines that can be levied for breaking the rules”

So far, about 142,000 people across the UK have signed. The largest location for signatures in the UK is Brighton Pavilion with 872 people. The Brighton and Hove groups are the largest for all of the Sussex with 1,845 signatures but all of the Sussex has achieved 4,770 currently endorsements.

Last Monday on 24^th March, e-Petition 700005 ‘European Union: UK Membership’ from the ‘Apply for the UK to join the European Union as a full member as soon as possible’ that Paul Davies, the Labour MP for Colne Valley that published. The Sussex person James MacCleary, Liberal Democrat for Lewes, took part. Danny Chambers, the Liberal Democrat for Winchester responded to the comment after James MacCleary had responded initially. James had referred “Best for Britain” a group of researchers, data scientists, strategists and activists how to fix the problems Britain faces after “Brexit”.

James “Government claim to be serious about growth yet they continue to ignore the most impactful step we could take: a UK-EU customs union…. It would provide immediate relief for countless small and medium-sized enterprises suffocating under bureaucracy, and significantly boost our exports to our largest and nearest market. Studies consistently show that aligning closely with European markets is overwhelmingly beneficial to British trade, employment and economic stability. A recent report from Best for Britain estimate that simply deeply aligning with the EU on goods and services could increase GDP by 1.7% to 2.2%. Why would we not want to do that?”                                            

Danny Chambers then responded “Some of the greatest challenges facing civilisation right now include climate change, how we feed 8 billion people and give them energy sustainably, the risk of pandemics, and antimicrobial resistance. Does my hon. Friend agree that barriers to research are not only damaging our universities and industries, but hindering the tackling of these huge problems?”

James then expressed his response that “Our real strength comes from unity and partnership…. Let us ensure that future generations inherit opportunities and co-operation, not barriers and isolation. Our young people, our small businesses and our farmers deserve better.”

On the similar time on last Monday afternoon, there was the ‘Planning and Infrastructure Bill’ which was proposed by Labours and the Greens. However, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the DUP rejected. Josh Babarinde for Eastbourne didn’t vote and no Conservatives including Sussex voted.

Four Sussex people spoked with Nusrat Ghani, Conservative who introduced a few people and three are shown who are mentioned with Peter Lamb, Labour, John Milne and Jessica Brown-Fuller for Liberal Democrats.

Peter Lamb, for Crawley described that theme of “Planning” might be a “dreary subject”. He said it took him a long time a long time to realise:

“that planning is central…. to just about every aspect of Government policy.” He said that “rates of pay at local authorities are massively out of kilter with the private sector. The consequence is that an increasingly small number of extremely hard-working people are left trying to keep the system afloat principally out of their public spiritedness. Yet, instead of receiving the thanks they deserve, all too often they have to deal with public rhetoric that regularly denigrates them and the work they do. I hope that I am not the first or the last in this Chamber to thank those public servants for their efforts on behalf of our communities and country”.

John Milne, Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham said, “First, I wholly respect the intention behind the Bill…. I judge this new Planning and Infrastructure Bill through the lens of my own constituency—will it work for Horsham? Will it deliver affordable homes in the right places and with the right environmental standards? I think the answer is no”. He described “I am desperate to build more affordable homes in Horsham, but clogging up the system with unbuildable permissions is not the way to do it”.

Jessica Brown-Fuller Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester commented, “We need to see growth so that our young people can stay in their local communities… the district council’s footprint covering 70% of national park and 5% of national landscape, the ambitious total for housing allocation in our area is confined to just 25% of the available land in a ribbon that is causing coastal squeeze. This has led to high-density developments built without adequate infrastructure, leaving my residents facing daily challenges navigating the horrendous congestion on the A27, finding local school places for their children, or simply obtaining an appointment with a GP…. Finally, there is no target for social homes in the Bill. Registered providers in Chichester are currently refusing to take on the social homes on smaller mixed-use sites, favouring the larger developments and prioritising upgrading their existing housing stock, which is putting the viability of social homes in my area at serious risk—and they are homes that we are desperately crying out for.”