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00:00and so I'm just going to close my remarks today without making reference
00:04to Aldridge and the reason is that it's just one of a handful of constituencies
00:09that has a track but it has no train station and so I would urge the
00:16honourable gentleman to join me in pushing his colleagues in the Treasury
00:21and the West Midlands Combined Authority to help me deliver a train station for
00:26Aldridge on time. Thank you. Julia Buckley to make her maiden speech.
00:34Thank you very much Madam Speaker for allowing me to make my maiden speech and
00:39what a privilege it is to follow my honourable friend for Sheffield Central
00:43on her very moving story of family overcoming racism and her personal
00:48passion for change. Thank you. I'm delighted to contribute to this
00:52afternoon's debates on our plans to introduce the Great British Railways and
00:57bring trains back into public ownership. Nowhere will these benefits be felt more
01:02keenly than in my own constituency of Shrewsbury where services are thin on
01:07the ground, lacking carriages and frequent and reliable services. Indeed
01:12most residents and visitors to Shrewsbury would very quickly conclude
01:15our town is a beauty spot with so much potential but cut off from the wider
01:20economic region by lack of robust public transport and this is mirrored by
01:25our inadequate bus services with over 5,000 routes cut since 2010. Shrewsbury
01:31is dreaming of a Sunday service or a bus after 6 to support our young people and
01:36our night-time economy. Public bus franchises will make a huge impact on so
01:41many lives. We also have high hopes of the Midlands Connect plans to electrify
01:45the train route between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton to boost our capacity. But
01:50Shrewsbury is of course the new name for my constituency or should that be
01:54Shrewsbury? Apparently your pronunciation reveals which side of the river you grew
02:00upon but actually the people of Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury are very
02:04tolerant of both pronunciations as it turns out. My constituency was known for
02:09many years as Shrewsbury and Atcham until several villages leading up to
02:13Wenlock Edge were donated to South Shropshire and to the Boundary Review. My
02:17predecessor Daniel Kaczynski is well known to this house as he served our
02:22constituency for 19 years and was particularly focused on raising the
02:26profile and challenges of our river through establishing and sharing the
02:30River Severn Caucus. I hope to continue this important work with my neighbour
02:34and colleagues as we tackle the shared threat of flooding and compromised water
02:38quality. There is another perhaps even more famous former MP for Shrewsbury
02:43going back a little further into history as Benjamin Disraeli was our Member of
02:49Parliament from 1841 when he earned a reputation as both witty and able before
02:54going on twice to become Prime Minister and to decriminalise the work of trade
02:58unions. Shrewsbury has many famous sons but none are more well-known than Charles
03:03Darwin, the father of evolution. He was born and raised in Shrewsbury, attended
03:07Shrewsbury School as a boarder in the building which has since become our town
03:11library and has a statue commemorating his contribution to learning. We're
03:16delighted that his family home will finally become an international visitor
03:20attraction to celebrate his work. Unlike Darwin I've only lived in Shropshire for
03:26a mere 20 years and so I'm grateful to have been graciously adopted by the good
03:30people of Shrewsbury to represent the county town for Shropshire, renowned as
03:34one of the finest medieval market towns with regular farmers markets brimming
03:38with local producers, agricultural livestock markets and our award-winning
03:43indoor market which goes from strength to strength with late-night events and
03:47live music winning Britain's favourite market no less than three times. The
03:52River Severn famously forms a loop around the town centre framed by our old
03:56town walls as a backdrop to our older historic properties, stone flag narrow
04:01streets, Regency crescents imposing black and white timber framed buildings. In
04:06total we have over 600 listed buildings including the castle, now a museum, the
04:11art gallery, old market hall and the famous Shrewsbury Abbey. Our main
04:16shopping street the Wild Cop which climbs the steep hill from the English
04:20Bridge up to the town square is reported to host more independent shops than any
04:25other street in the country thanks to the support of Shrewsbury Bid and our
04:28Chambers of Commerce. There are beautiful riverside walks, cycle paths, pedestrian
04:34bridges and the jewel in our crown the Quarry Park along the river with Percy
04:39Thrower's famous sunken gardens in the Dingle and where the Royal Horticultural
04:43Society hosts its annual flower show. With such well-kept beauty and heritage
04:48charm it's easy to see why Shrewsbury attracts so many visitors each year
04:52boosted by our array of cultural festivals including the Folk Festival,
04:55Food Festival, of course the Darwin Festival, the County Show at the West
05:00Mid Showground and Loop Fest. But we also welcome gentle sustainable tourism those
05:05that come to walk in the Shropshire Hills, kayak down the river or take a
05:08leisurely cruise on our famous tour boat the Sabrina. I'm sure members listening
05:13are already planning to book their next visit and I will be happy to oblige with
05:17the guided tour for any who make it. We have some 30 or so smaller villages in
05:23the rural hinterland with Upton Magna in the east towards the Reakin, Montford
05:27Bridge and Nescliffe and up with our long-standing military training camp.
05:31Minsterley, Pondsbury and Basin Hill to the south and Shrewaldown and Westbury
05:35almost on the Welsh border in what was historically named the Marches. These
05:41rolling green hills provide our farming base, woodland natural habitat and serve
05:45our agricultural sector ably supported by the nearby world-leading University
05:50at Harper Adams where our farmers of the future are trained in sustainability and
05:55productivity. It's crucial given their impact on the food and drink supply
05:59chain that flows through the county to support our local economy. We have
06:04several large employers including the world-leading Morris lubricant factory
06:07dating back to 1869, Sallop Leisure, Beaver Bridges and of course Shrewsbury
06:12Town Football Club where manager David Morris once played. Yet despite this very
06:19long list of famous Shrewsbury men I am here today as the first female MP for
06:25Shrewsbury and not before time. I am the daughter of a coal miner whose pit was
06:32closed in 1986 and who never worked again. I was 12 years old when this
06:37affected our family and our community and that's when my interest in politics
06:41was first ignited. As an adult I was fortunate to win a scholarship for my
06:47PhD in EU policy. I worked in the European Parliament for five years in
06:51Brussels specialising in regional investment funding to tackle inequality.
06:56Whilst I was there I made friends with the chirpy young woman in the next door
07:00office, another northern lass passionate about politics, Jo Ledbeater who later
07:06became Jo Cox. We ran the New York Marathon together in 2001 with Susie
07:11Sumner as the Northern Lasses. We were so proud of Jo when she became an MP and
07:16how with her usual style of tigerish enthusiasm and charm she would persuade
07:22everyone towards her policy aims. All the more reason why her death was so very
07:28difficult to comprehend. A senseless loss of someone so sincere and positive. Jo
07:35never shied away for standing up for what she believed in, what really
07:38mattered, however important or difficult or unpopular. She never said she was too
07:44tired or too busy, she just got on and fought for what was important and always
07:48with a winning smile. Jo inspired me back into politics. After
07:54realising that life is too short and precious to wait for other people to
07:58solve problems I decided to be more like Jo and that week I rejoined my local
08:03Labour Party, became a town and then county councillor and ultimately leader
08:07of Shropshire Labour Group. I stood as the parliamentary candidate in this seat
08:11in 2019 and I returned this year to win and become our MP. Thanks in no small
08:18measure to the support of my husband John and the patience of my children
08:22Annabelle and Edward. May I take this moment to conclude by saying to Jo and
08:26to her sister Kim that finally the Northern Lasses are reunited in this
08:32place.
08:36Sarker Eastwoods make her maiden speech.