FROM OUR MP

Welcome to my first newsletter of 2018. I would like to wish you and your family a very happy new year.

Since being elected in June, I have tried to make the position of MP as accessible as possible; holding surgeries around our constituency, establishing 2 offices and helping those who have run into obstacles when dealing with the various levels of government in our country.

These first 6 months have passed in a flash and thanks to your help we have been able to make a real difference to individuals and communities in our constituency, as well as securing more funding for Scotland in the UK budget.

The team and I would like to thank all those who have supported or assisted our work, and we look forward to working with you in 2018!

If you have any issue or concern that you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact me on:

luke.grahamoffice@parliament.uk

Or call/pop into one of our offices:

2 Comrie Street, Crieff, PH7 4AX 01764 680384

38 Primrose Street, Alloa, FK10 1JG 01259 764407

Royal Bank of Scotland

I strongly oppose the Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to close branches in Alloa, Kinross and Comrie. Since the announcement I have met with representatives of RBS, tabled questions to the Treasury and taken part in a debate on the issue. In the New Year I will be meeting with Treasury Ministers to discuss what the Government can do to put pressure on RBS to ensure they serve the communities in which they serve.

I have also met with Bank of Scotland regarding their proposed closure of their branch in Alva. In the meeting we agreed an action plan and next steps that I will be following up in the New Year.

Brexit

The EU Withdrawal Bill has continued to progress through the House of Commons. I was pleased that the two amendments I supported were accepted by the Government:

 Amendment 3 - Introducing a sifting committee and limiting the "Henry VIII" powers of the Government.
 Amendment 8 - Using Charter for Fundamental Human Rights as an aide memoir + produce gap analysis between U.K. And EU rights and ensure none are lost after Brexit.

In the meantime, the recent agreement between the U.K. and EU allows the Government to provide more clarity on EU nationals’ rights in U.K. and British nationals’ rights in the EU. This is an issue I have campaigned on since being elected - 'Global Britain' must be clear: those who live, work and contribute to the UK must have their rights protected post 2019 - this has now been confirmed.

Investment

I have continued to push for further investment through the Tay and Clackmannanshire City deals. Ministers have now set a deadline of Q1 2018 to agree head of terms for both deals. In order to ensure Clacks and South Perthshire & Kinross-shire do not miss out, I have submitted additional projects for consideration by the Treasury to deliver specific investment for our communities.

I have also met with a number of banks and private enterprises to discuss bringing more investment and tackling youth unemployment in Ochil & South Perthshire. Although many of these meetings will not yield results in the next few weeks, I hope they will deliver further investment over the coming years. Updates will be provided here.

Planning

Many residents in Kinross-Shire would have received my letter outlining my opposition to the Westfield development in Fife. The current proposal means that too many negatives will impact homes, businesses and roads in Kinross-shire. I will continue to work with MPs, MSPs and councillors to try and find a constructive way forward that will deliver jobs, but also protect our constituency.

In Parliament

In addition to the key issues raised here, I speak in a number of debates in Westminster that are relevant to our constituency and the UK as a whole. For the latest, please follow me on Facebook http://bit.ly/2CulekR
or through my website: https://www.lukegraham.org.uk/