“Last month the Herald published a small and innocuous article, with the heading “Response due on Wantage-Didcot name change plan”. I would like to reassure you all that such a change has never been considered. Didcot and Wantage are two entirely wonderful, but separate, towns with their own distinct identities – including names – and this will most certainly continue indefinitely. What is being proposed, as the rest of the article makes clear, is changing the name of the Parliamentary constituency from ‘Wantage’ to ‘Didcot and Wantage’ as part of a UK-wide boundary review by the Boundary Commission for England. This review is examining the boundaries of existing constituencies and will make recommendations for any changes that might be needed to make sure constituencies comply with legal requirements.
I have been receiving a lot of correspondence recently on the EU Withdrawal Bill, otherwise known as the Great Repeal Bill. While I support the Bill at second reading, it is on the basis that it is improved upon in the committee stage. There has been much discussion around the so-called ‘Henry VIII’ powers that will give ministers the power to change or update EU laws without putting changes before Parliament. On a practical level this measure is sensible, as putting every change before Parliament would be an impossible task due to the volume of legislation. However, I feel that the proposed powers go beyond what is reasonable for the Government to achieve its stated aims. To this end I have put my name to three amendments, all designed to ensure that the powers given to ministers are proportionate and strictly focused on achieving the policy objective.
Last month it was a pleasure to meet the team at Immunocore, based in Milton Park. Immunocore is one of the UK’s fastest growing life science companies and an industry leader in the research and development of cancer treatments using T-cell receptors. I am immensely proud that our constituency homes some of the very best scientific researcher and engineers. As well as the brilliant organizations working collaboratively at Milton Park, we have over £1billion of world-leading research infrastructure at Harwell Campus – home to around 200 science and research organizations and 5000 of the UK’s most innovative minds. Additionally, last month I also caught up with Sovereign – one of the main social housing providers in the constituency – and with Oxfordshire County Council to discuss a range of infrastructure projects.
Nominations are now open for the Countryside Alliance Awards – nicknamed the ‘Rural Oscars’. They celebrate people going the extra mile to ensure that rural Britain’s food and farming industry, small businesses, traditional skills and forward-thinking enterprises can flourish. Our constituency is home to a whole host of brilliant community champions, so please get involved and nominate at the following address: https://www.countryside-alliance.org/campaigns/countryside-alliance-awards/
Please feel free to contact me if you have any pressing issues that you would like help with. Either myself or one of my team will get back to you as soon as possible and do what we can to assist. You can contact me on any matter at the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA, dicksonce@parliament.uk or 01235 768 888. Email is the quickest and most reliable way to get in touch, as I keep a very close eye on my emails and can reply very quickly. Details of my activities in Parliament can be read on my website, https://www.vaizey.com. I also send out occasional general interest emails about developments in the Wantage and Didcot Constituency. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please complete the online form at https://bit.ly/EdVaizeyMP.”