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MP Nicky Morgan: Progress made on long road

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Last Sunday, I was one of thousands who completed the London Marathon. I reached the finish line five hours and 15 minutes after starting – 26.2 miles is a very long way.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me raise more than £2,500 for Rethink Mental Illness and Home-Start Charnwood.

Despite the blisters, running the marathon was an amazing and emotional experience.

It was given added poignancy by the tragic events in Boston only six days earlier.

Although my marathon attempt was in no way a world record, I am pleased to say one Loughborough resident has officially been crowned a Guinness world record-holder this week.

Loughborough University graduate Becky White, founder of Onesixeight fitness, received confirmation this week that she helped to lead the most people bouncing on trampolines simultaneously, with 302 people joining in last summer.

Congratulations, Becky.

On Thursday, it was announced Britain's gross domestic product had grown by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

This is an encouraging sign our economy is healing and is good news.

The deficit is down by a third, businesses have created more than 1.25 million jobs and interest rates are at record lows.

We all know there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years – and we can't promise the road ahead will always be smooth – but by continuing to confront our problems head on, we are building an economy fit for the future.

In addition, as recent figures from Leicestershire Police have shown, crime continues to fall – recorded crime is down by more than 10 per cent under this Government and this week's independent survey shows that crime is at its lowest level since records began.

Our police have shown an impressive ability to accommodate necessary budget reductions while still cutting crime and we are grateful to them for all that they do.

I know they, and everyone involved with the policing and criminal justice system will continue to work hard to tackle crime and its underlying causes.

The 2012-13 session of Parliament has now concluded and we await the Queen's Speech on May 8, which will set out the Government's 2013-14 programme.

One of the last issues we voted on was a clause in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill on caste discrimination.

Clearly, any form of discrimination and prejudice is unacceptable, though there is very little evidence of caste discrimination in Britain.

However, the House of Lords expressed a very strong view that they wanted to extend our anti-discrimination laws to include caste as an element of race.

As a result, the Government has committed to consult before legislation is introduced.

I hope interested Leicester residents will take part in that consultation.

Ministers do not want to see caste become a permanent feature of British society and my view is legislation was not the right way to deal with an issue we hope will become a thing of the past.

Last Friday, I spent the morning out on shift with one of our ambulance crews.

If you have ever had to call an ambulance, you will understand that sense of relief when people see the crew arrive and they can take over helping the person who is in pain or has injured themselves.

I and other MPs do get complaints about our ambulance response times and I know East Midlands Ambulance Service is looking at solutions to this and other issues.

The time I spent out with the crew was invaluable in understand how calls are allocated and dealt with on the ground.

It was a real privilege to meet Ian and Richard and I am grateful to them for answering all my questions – even as we drove at great speed with blue lights flashing down the A6 to Leicester.

MP Nicky Morgan:  Progress made on long road


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