Occasionally politics goes through periods of high drama. This week the Commons is sitting into the early hours on the EU Withdrawal Bill and the inevitably tense negotiations on Brexit are ongoing in Brussels.
Huge attention is focussed on these major issues. However much of the political impact on our society happens gradually through a raft of small measures taken overtime which makes lives better and extend opportunity.
I was reminded of this listening to the radio over the weekend when a chief executive of a major pub chain was asked about the secret of his success and it came down to detail – just getting one or two things right in every pub and on the back of it seeing a whole business succeed.
I have been selected this week to lead an adjournment debate. Held at the end of the parliamentary day when every MP will heading back to their constituency it is never an event for which you could hope to sell tickets! However it is an opportunity to raise the profile of a national issue and require a ministerial response.
I am delighted that two of my active cross-party roles are as a member of the Financial Inclusion Commission and as the Chairman of the All Party Group on Credit Unions. I secured the debate to raise the issue of Financial Inclusion. The Commission’s Report set out a series of recommendations – including the appointment of a Minister with direct responsibility for the area. This will be the first occasion on which the new Minister appointed to exactly undertake this role can set out his stall.
Credit Unions (“mutual” that provide ethical banking services to their members), the use of fintech, better financial education, greater access to advice, ensuring fair access to insurance are all parts of an equation to protect individuals from financial abuse (such as the worst excesses of pay day lenders) and deliver better outcomes. Government can certainly help – of which the creation of one single source of Government-sponsored financial advice rather than competing services is a step that (rather more quietly than the EU Withdrawal Bill) is even now in the process of being delivered.
Photo caption: Meeting Tanbridge students this week to hear about their project on Horsham during the Great War and the school’s role as an accredited UNICEF Rights Respecting School - and what that means to school life.