Readers may know that I am a veterinary surgeon by background, and I believe I may be the first vet to be elected to the House of Commons since 1884, when Sir Frederick Fitzwygram was elected as the Member of Parliament for Hampshire South. I don’t think that obscure piece of trivia is enough to get into a pub quiz, but more on visits to the hospitality sector later. So why has this particular vet ventured into politics? My involvement as a Veterinary Inspector in the 2001 Foot and Mouth Crisis spurred me into wanting to use my background in public service. I am sure readers will recall the dreadful scenes from that crisis, scenes that we hope are never repeated. For me, supervising the culls of many animals is sadly emblazoned in my memory. Nationally, over 6 million animals were slaughtered. Cumbria was hit especially hard with over one and a quarter million animals lost. 45% of Cumbria’s farms were subject to culls and in the north, this rose to 70%. The crisis had severe effects on agriculture and the economy, but also on the mental health and welfare of the people that live and work in this area.
Now as we all know, agriculture is incredibly important to the UK, in 2018 contributing £9.6 billion to UK economic output. But it goes much wider than this. Agriculture is part of the lifeblood of our area, accounting for about 50% of land use. But there are other major industries too, and tourism is a hugely important sector for our local economy. Indeed, Cumbria has one of the largest tourist economies in the UK. In 2018 alone, there were 47 million visits to Cumbria. As your Member of Parliament, I will stand up for these vital industries. You will see from my voting record that I am not afraid to vote against the Government when it comes to upholding our values such as animal welfare and farming standards; this is an area I am passionate about and will come back to in future columns.
The tourism and hospitality sectors have been hit particularly hard during the Coronavirus pandemic and I have been working with businesses to try and secure much-needed Government support. As we are easing out of general lockdown, I have been very happy to work with colleagues in my own and other parties to support this and other sectors. That spirit of cross-party working is something I feel really strongly about. If someone in the other team has a good idea which can be good for the country, we should work together to bring those ideas forward for the benefit of everyone. It is in that spirit that I entered the House of Commons and hope to continue. I have worked closely with Cumbria Tourism throughout this crisis and joined their petition for additional Government support, something I continue to raise with Ministers in meetings and questions in the Commons Chamber. I have met with and visited many businesses in this sector and have been really impressed by their resilience, their support for their staff and the preparations that they have put in place to reassure their customers that it is safe to visit and enjoy their establishments. This summer as an example, I would really encourage folk to support our businesses through the Government-funded Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, where you can enjoy up to £10 off per person on food and non-alcoholic drinks on Monday to Wednesdays in August. I hope readers manage to get some good quality time off with their family and friends this summer and enjoy our fantastic Cumbrian countryside.