DURING the return of snow to our part of Hampshire last weekend I found a safe haven at the Lantern Theatre at Mountbatten for the Rownhams St John’s Primary School performance of The Wizard of Oz. It was a fabulous afternoon of musical theatre, performed by 6-11 year olds with some of the most outstanding singing voices I have heard. The children (and indeed staff) should be very proud of their achievements, and I certainly went away very impressed.

Fortunately the snow was nowhere near as bad as the big beast from the east we experienced a few weeks ago, and I was able to get back to Westminster this week with no delays on the transport network. Back in Parliament we have been debating the governance arrangements for Northern Ireland, with a great deal of time protected business, but there have also been interesting back bench debates including on the availability of new treatments for Cystic Fibrosis. A number of constituents had drawn this debate to my attention, and I had the opportunity that evening to raise the issue direct with the Minister Steve Brine, who is also my neighbouring MP.

We have also had the opportunity to talk to Hampshire College Principals about a range of issues facing the sector, which I have always been a strong supporter of. The event was hosted by Ranil Jayawardena who emphasised his links to Hampshire Colleges, having attended Alton College in his teens. This provoked a round of similar connections being stated, although I believe I am the only MP in Hampshire who not only attended one of our fantastic local sixth form colleges, but also has had a child benefit from the great education provided at Peter Symonds’, oh and a Dad who taught in the sector locally. I have always sought to emphasise to DfE Ministers, including Anne Milton who was present, the strengths of the FE sector, remembering that not all parts of the country have the same tertiary system as us.