Trade deals are like buses, you wait for years then suddenly three come along at once. But why do they matter to people in High Peak? They matter because they affect the long-term security of so many jobs, the cost of food in our supermarkets and our ability to work and travel abroad.
The Conservatives failed to deliver the trade deals they promised and the ones they did secure left us on worse terms. By contrast in just 10 short months, we have concluded trade deals with three of our top four trading partners: India, the US and this week the EU.
The EU trade deal is by far the most important. Over 40% of the goods and services we make in this country are sold to the EU. It’s been nearly a decade since the Brexit vote, and it’s been over five years since Britain formally left the European Union. The Conservatives put ideology and dogma over what was best for jobs, the cost of living and our quality of life. By contrast, we now have a government that is willing to do whatever is necessary to bring down bills and deliver for British people.
So back to the question, what will this deal do for you and your family?
Firstly, it will reduce the queues when you go on holiday. Most of us will have been used to scanning our passports at the e-gate for EU countries but this was stopped after 2020. As a result of this Government’s actions, British holidaymakers can finally avoid long queues by using the e-gates again.
Secondly, have you noticed that fruit and veg coming from the EU doesn’t last as long as it used to? This is largely because of the onerous processes placed on the import and export of food to and from the EU. We’ve all seen the photos of the lorries parked up at Dover and that’s because of the red tape left in the deal negotiated by the Tories. The new agreement will make trade easier. This means that the food that ends up the supermarket can get there earlier, be fresher when it’s on your dinner table and will make our food cheaper.
Finally, one of the saddest parts of leaving the EU was that it meant our young people would not be able to enjoy the same freedoms to travel and work that many of us did. The principle of a youth experience scheme is something that I am passionate about. From speaking to people across our towns and villages, I know that this is something that people in High Peak are also passionate about. I am delighted that young people in our area will once again be able to work, study, volunteer and travel across Europe easier in future.
This deal alongside the deals with the US and India provide a platform for economic growth and are key pillars in our plan to make us all better off.
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Watching my father disappear into Alzheimer’s is something my family will never forget. It is a story that, sadly, will feel painfully familiar to so many families across High Peak.
People often say that with Alzheimer’s and dementia you lose the person twice. First, as the illness slowly robs them of the person they once were, and then again when their body finally gives up after a long and cruel battle.
As heartbreaking as that is, it is often accompanied by another burden: the constant worry about how to provide the care they need, and how that care will be paid for.
For decades, social care has been the problem every politician acknowledges but no government has truly solved. Almost everyone agrees the system is broken. Yet whenever serious reform is proposed, the debate quickly descends into scare stories, political point-scoring and accusations of “death taxes”, leaving families exactly where they started.
That has to change.
Last week, Andy Burnham said he was prepared to spend political capital on fixing social care and to work with other political parties to build the consensus needed to make lasting reform possible.
I know this is deeply personal for Andy. His own father is living with Alzheimer’s. But long before that, as Health Secretary, he argued that social care should be valued alongside healthcare as an essential part of the system, not treated as an afterthought.
For too long, social care has been the forgotten partner of the NHS.
When we think about our health service, we rightly picture doctors, nurses and hospitals. But social care is every bit as vital. It helps older people remain independent, supports disabled adults to live fulfilling lives, gives families reassurance, and frees up hospital beds by helping people return home safely when they are ready.
When social care fails, the NHS feels the consequences. Hospital beds stay occupied, ambulance queues grow longer, families are left exhausted, and vulnerable people do not receive the support they deserve.
Years of underinvestment have left providers struggling to survive, care workers undervalued despite the extraordinary job they do, and families facing impossible choices at the most difficult moments of their lives.
Getting social care right is not simply about one public service. It is about making our entire health and care system work better.
Andy has instructed that the review of social care should report much sooner, with conclusions expected by this time next year. That gives us a real opportunity to have the honest, grown-up conversation the country has avoided for far too long.
As your MP, I will work with anyone - whatever their political party - who is serious about delivering the lasting reforms families deserve.
My father’s journey with Alzheimer’s will stay with me forever. It reinforced something I have always believed: every one of us deserves to grow old with dignity. Every family deserves the confidence that, when the time comes, good care will be there without fear, uncertainty or impossible financial decisions.
We’ve talked about fixing social care for long enough. It’s time we finally did it.
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