Recent developments in the situation in the middle east remain at the forefront of our minds. The Iranian projectiles fired at Israel over the weekend risk pushing what is already a precarious situation over the edge. From the chronic shortages of food, medicine and other essentials in Gaza, Israeli families who spent their weekend in bombs shelters, to the recent deaths of the British aid-workers in Gaza, this is a situation where there are no winners.
We can be proud of the role that Britain has played, with our heroic RAF servicemen and women working to ensure that all but a handful of these missiles and drones did not reach their targets. Having helped avoid further devastation and loss of life, the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are working tirelessly with regional and global partners to avoid a further escalation. I am hopeful that calm heads will now prevail, and we will see a cooling of tensions and an end to the heartbreaking violence of the past six months.
Closer to home, I am angry but not surprised by the recent communications between the Morgan & Morecambe project and local landowners regarding land access and surveys. The majority of those likely to be affected are farmers, for whom the productivity of their land and the seasonality of their work means they cannot move around dates for tilling, sowing, and harvesting at such short notice.
It is wholly unacceptable that the project has once again sought to treat Fylde with such disdain, and I am deeply concerned by the threatening tone taken by the letters received by landowners regarding potential repercussions for non-compliance. I have again written to BP, EnBW and their partners, as well as raising this with the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for Energy and for the Environment.
I have become aware of an increasing number of social media scams, with pages posing as local businesses to trick people into paying for services they will never receive or gain access to personal information or bank details. It is a real shame that unscrupulous individuals appear to be taking advantage of the reputation of our fantastic local businesses and tradespeople and I would urge those on social media to make certain that any offers or services being advertised online are as they appear. If you have suspicions, these should be reported to the social media platform themselves and to Action Fraud via https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/.
Lastly, a huge congratulations to AFC Fylde, whose impressive win over Gateshead on Thursday, combined with results over the weekend, have virtually guaranteed their survival in the National League for another season with one match remaining. In a league where a number of clubs can claim historic Football League pedigree this is no small achievement and the Coasters’ turnaround since sliding to the bottom of the league on Boxing Day has been nothing short of remarkable. Here’s hoping they can continue building on recent momentum and push for the promotion next season.