Many congratulations to Burnley FC on getting back to the Premier League at the first attempt as Champions, setting the record for the fastest promotion from the Championship too. Credit must go to Vincent Kompany, the players and all those at the club. Sealing the deal away at Blackburn was a nice bonus too!
East Lancashire having a Premier League club is a real boost to the area, from creating jobs to supporting the club's charitable arm, Burnley FC in the Community. The Leisure Box at Northlight (Brierfield Mills) was possible because Burnley were a Premier League club at the time. I hope the club's promotion means we will see even more support for grassroots community initiatives across Pendle.
Many will have seen this week's news that the government has hit its target to recruit 20,000 new police officers. This was one of the key commitments I pledged to deliver back in 2019 and is an important milestone in stepping up the response to crime and anti-social behaviour. I've written before about how I regretted needing to reduce police numbers during the coalition government so as to restore the national finances, and am pleased this has now been fully reversed. I'll continue to work with and support our local police, including the 612 new police officers we have here in Lancashire.
Meanwhile, down in Parliament, I've been voting for tougher fines for water companies discharging sewage into our rivers and for the Illegal Migration Bill. Most people want to see those genuinely fleeing warzones offered protection in safe countries including our own, whether they've come from Ukraine, Syria or now Sudan. However, there's no good reason to tolerate people arriving on our shores in unseaworthy small boats and I'm glad the Prime Minister's made stopping the boats a priority issue.
Sadly, lots of misinformation has been spread about tackling sewage discharges. Discharges happen because our Victorian infrastructure wasn't invested in whilst in public ownership, and we're more aware of it thanks to better monitoring. There is now big investment going in, like the £75 million United Utilities are putting into the Burnley Wastewater Treatment Works in Reedley and other local facilities. Instead of spreading misleading half-truths, I hope all political parties can now unite in tackling this issue and cleaning up our seas and rivers.
