Welcome to my June e-newsletter.
Responding to appeals from local businesses, I have been making the case to get shops, restaurants, cafes and pubs open again with a social distancing rule based on one metre rather than two. This is essential if we are to save hospitality businesses in Barnet. So I very much welcome the Government’s announcement that a one metre rule, with safeguards, will be introduced on Saturday, and pubs and restaurants will be allowed to re-open.
I’ve been out and about in local town centres including Whetstone, High Barnet, Friern Barnet, East Barnet, Hampden Square and Colney Hatch Lane to promote local independent retailers and encourage people to head back out to the shops. I’ve also resumed outdoor street surgeries to help me keep in touch with constituents.
Since my last e-newsletter update, I have continued my campaign to ensure future trade agreements do not undermine the UK’s high animal welfare and environmental standards with an op ed article in the Mail on Sunday which you can read here.
I carried out a virtual visit to Middlesex University with my colleague, Robert Halfon MP, who is chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee. We spoke via Zoom to apprentice nurses and police officers about the hugely positive impact the university’s degree apprenticeship programme has had on their lives.
In Parliament I have spoken up on a number of issues including my opposition to the Victoria Quarter development and the Mayor of London’s plans to build over the car parks at High Barnet and Cockfosters. I organised a cross-party letter from Barnet elected representatives to the Mayor to urge him to scrap his plans to change the 384 bus route.
I also took part in a very moving debate in Parliament on the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from BAME communities. This is truly shocking. It is vital that the cause is identified and that every effort is made to address health inequalities and other barriers and discrimination faced by people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
For more information on my campaigning work over the last month, you can click on the links below to articles on my website. Please pass on this email to anyone you think would be interested to see it or join my mailing list. You can also follow me on Facebook at facebook.com/theresavillierscb.
With warmest wishes
Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers
Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet
Villiers urges people to head back to local high streets
Following the re-opening of retailers forced to close during the height of the pandemic, Theresa Villiers MP has been out and about in town centres across her Chipping Barnet constituency to encourage people to start shopping again to support local businesses.
Conservatives give £352,000 help for high streets in Barnet
MP Theresa Villiers has welcomed the £352,000 given to Barnet Council by the Government to help local high streets safely reopen as the coronavirus lockdown is gradually eased.
Political enemies unite in Barnet to save 384 bus
Elected representatives in Barnet have come together across the political divide to urge the Mayor of London and TfL to drop plans for radical changes to the route of the 384 bus.
MPs call for action to combat health inequalities to protect BAME communities
The borough of Barnet is one of the most ethnically diverse in Britain. Theresa Villiers spoke up in a debate in Parliament on the crucial importance of establishing why BAME communities have been disproportionately affected by coronavirus and ensuring that BAME workers on the front line are properly protected.
Response to the Black Lives Matter campaign
Theresa Villiers has issued the following statement in response to constituents who have contacted her about the shocking death of George Floyd and the vital importance of combating racism.
Barnet MP backs action to tackle plastics pollution in the ocean
Whilst the Covid emergency remains the primary focus, other work is getting back underway in Parliament, and MPs recently approved legislation to ban single use plastic stirrers, straws and cotton buds.
Villiers and Offord call for FCO action on media freedom in Turkey
Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, and Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon, have written to Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to ask him to raise concerns about curbs on media freedom by the Turkish Government.
How to contact Theresa
Your local MP and her team are working hard to respond to constituents’ concerns, both on Covid-19 and the other issues routinely raised with MPs. However, some changes have had to be made to the way Theresa and her staff are working in order to comply with social distancing rules and public health advice
If you need Theresa’s help you will need to email her on
[email protected], ring her constituency office on 020 8449 7345, or write to Theresa Villiers MP, 163 High Street, Barnet, Herts, EN5 5SU.
Face-to-face surgery meetings are still possible, where necessary, but these are being kept to a minimum to reduce risk and to comply with the rules on social distancing. As lockdown rules are now easing, Theresa’s regular Saturday morning surgery will take place this week, starting a 1015 on Saturday 4th July.
To ensure social distancing rules can be observed, THIS WILL NOT BE A DROP-IN SURGERY. Anyone wishing to see Theresa or her staff will need to make an appointment in advance. You will NOT be seen if you turn up without a pre-booked appointment. Bookings can be made using the contact details set out above.
The waiting room which is normally available during the surgery will be closed. Constituents will need to arrive at the time of their appointment and will be asked to queue outside if they are early, or if there are delays to the appointment schedule. We apologise for this inconvenience but it is necessary to minimise the number of people in the constituency office at one time.
Zoom appointments are available at other times for those who cannot be fitted into the face-to-face surgery on 4th July. It is still recommended that, wherever possible, you raise your concerns with Theresa by phone or email, rather than through a meeting, as your case can be dealt with more quickly this way.
Promoted by Dominic Lowe on behalf of Theresa Villiers both at 163 High Street, Barnet, Herts, EN5 5SU.
