Smoking is one of the UK's leading causes of preventable death, disability and ill health.
We need to prioritise spending on public health services, such as smoking cessation, so that everyone has the opportunity to quit for good.
I was pleased to meet with Cancer Research UK in Westminster Hall earlier, who were highlighting the cross-party support for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill currently going through Parliament.
Families and businesses who were promised fast, reliable broadband face the prospect of waiting far longer. I'll be meeting with the Government to stress the need for Openreach to prioritise North Shropshire, and ask for a guarantee that the needs of rural communities won't be ignored.
This week the Government handed the failed Project Gigabit fibre broadband contract to Openreach, after Freedom Fibre pulled the plug on delivering fast connections to thousands in North Shropshire.
While a solution is good, this risks pushing rural communities to the back of the queue yet again.
Helen Morgan MP addressing schoolchildren in Westminster Hall
Lovely to meet schoolchildren from Newtown and Welshampton in Westminster Hall earlier and answer some of their great questions.
Liberal Democrats want to see this CIL money go towards the running costs of GP practices, so surgeries can open or expand as soon as people move into new homes, not years later.
But there's billions of pounds of developers money (CIL) sitting unspent - which should be spent on local infrastructure like GP surgeries, schools and roads.
Too many people struggle to get a GP appointment in North Shropshire - and it's even worse when new housing developments arrive without healthcare to meet demand.
We need an urgent maternity rescue package to make maternity care safe, fair and reliable for every family.
Baroness Amos’ review exposes serious failures in England’s maternity services - poor-quality care, racism, unsafe facilities, and families left devastated.
Beyond the human cost, maternity negligence now costs the NHS a staggering £1.3bn a year.
Rural crime sometimes blights communities like ours, and what's reported doesn't always reflect reality. To help tackle this, the Countryside Alliance has launched an interactive rural crime reporting tool. You can report an incident here: www.countryside-alliance.org/report-rural...
It was good to see the progress at Edinburgh House in Wem recently.
The redevelopment by Connexus will deliver much-needed homes that people can afford, and bring purpose back to an unused site.
This is good news for rural North Shropshire, where poor connectivity and disappearing services have left many residents and businesses feeling forgotten.
Nationally, banking hubs have been transformative. They’ve been shown to increase local footfall, boost small‑business takings, and provide a lifeline for people who can’t bank digitally or travel long distances.
I was delighted to officially open the new Banking Hub in Market Drayton earlier.
While in its temporary location, the Hub was well used and a success, and it's great to see face-to-face banking make a permanent return.
⛔Let's end the great sewage cover-up.
💩Water companies should be forced to tell us the AMOUNT of sewage that pours into our lovely rivers and streams.
🍺After all, you wouldn't ask in a pub for 'three-and-a-half seconds of beer'.
#sewage #riverpollution
Visiting Shropshire's PCAS, it's clear that the in-demand charity is providing a much-needed counselling and advocacy service to disabled people.
Based in Oswestry and operating across the county, it was good to meet with Simon and the team - and on the charity's 31st birthday! 🎉
Even if you can get to the station at Whitchurch, it isn't accessible to everyone, so no wonder people choose to use the car.
If people are to truly realise the benefits the railway can bring, we need step-free access to both platforms there.
They are two fantastic charities that do incredible work across North Shropshire and beyond. I'd be really grateful for any support you can give.
www.helenmorgan.org.uk/marathon
Next month, I'll take on my biggest running challenge yet - the London Marathon. I've been training to get to marathon distance for a while and am raising funds for Lingen Davies Cancer Support and Hope House.
The consultation for the pylon plan into North Shropshire has been questionable at best. The power lines are supposed to connect to a substation but there isn't even a proposal for that yet. We are expecting it later this year - how can we be reassured it’s not already a done deal?
That's why it's vital Oswestry is reconnected to the mainline - a rail link would mean businesses could attract employees from a wider area; young people could access more education options; and greater investment and regeneration.
The proposal to take a train service from Wrexham, through Shropshire and the Midlands to London is a good one.
Yet Oswestry - one of the largest towns in North Shropshire and the county - has no station and can't benefit from the many positives the service would bring.
Meanwhile there's so much more the Government could be doing to support staff, and the patients who struggle to get GP appointments, suffering months of pain stuck on waiting lists.
We need to stop this situation from dragging on causing yet more harm.
The previous government left our NHS on its knees, with doctors working under increased pressure.
We also know how difficult the public finances are after years of Conservative mismanagement - so a 26% increase for resident doctors just doesn't seem realistic at the moment.
✅️Guaranteeing one-to-one care from a dedicated midwife for every single woman in labour
✅️Ensuring a specialist consultant doctor is on every maternity ward 24/7 to end the 'after-hours lottery' of care.
✅️A major capital investment programme to fix crumbling wards and deliver new facilities.
This plan would ensure that Britain becomes the safest place in the world to have a baby, by:
For too long, families have been let down by a maternity system at breaking point.
Hospital staff are working incredibly hard, but they are under immense pressure, and it’s mothers and babies who are paying the price.
Safety in childbirth should be a right, not a gamble.
I chaired my first meeting as Lib Dem campaign chair last night and we're up two points in the polls today.
I will now be putting more meetings in the diary.
