The past week has brought yet more terrible scenes from the Turkish-Syrian border, and it is deeply heart breaking to see the number of lives lost and homes left in ruin following the recent earthquakes.
This is a region that has already experienced years of hardship due to conflict from which many families, on both sides of the border, were only just rebuilding their lives. The resilience of these people is something I have seen personally, meeting Syrian refugees during a 2019 Parliamentary delegation to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, a city just a few miles from the earthquake’s epicentre.
Millions have been made homeless literally overnight and the UK Government has been quick to act, providing an £8 million aid package and vital resources as well as assembling a taskforce of 77 British search & rescue experts, with additional medical teams, who are working tirelessly to pull survivors from the rubble and provide urgent care to the injured. Further support has been offered to the Turkish authorities.
But this is also very much a grassroots effort. Whenever tragedy strikes, the British public can be relied upon to show their generosity and I was incredibly proud that the Disaster Emergency Committee appeal hit £60 million earlier this week, a total reached just three days after launching. I have shared details of how to donate on my website and Facebook page and know that Fylde has been playing its part in this and will continue to do so.
Locally, I have been disappointed by Cuadrilla’s efforts to extend their licence for the fracking well at Preston New Road. My opposition to fracking in Fylde has been clear and extending the licence is in nobody’s interest. No drilling has occurred at the site since 2019, nor will the Government allow it to resume.
Any extension will serve only perpetuate this eyesore on our countryside and the failure to complete decommissioning work in time lies squarely at Cuadrilla’s door.
I am determined to see this application rejected and I have made my thoughts clear to Lancashire County Council about the need to not only reject this request, but to ensure that our community has this land returned to agricultural use at the earliest opportunity. I encourage Fylde residents to do the same.
On a more positive note, it was incredibly pleasing to hear the Prime Minister speak so positively about the BAE systems Factory of the Future, located at Warton during last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.
In a week when Parliament celebrated its Apprenticeship Week and hosted an address by President Zelenskiy of Ukraine these comments were particularly fitting, and we must not lose sight of the opportunities that Lancashire’s world-leading aerospace sector offers young people, nor take for granted the safety and security it provides the United Kingdom.
Despite being in its relative infancy, with prototypes still several years from their first flight, the project is having a major impact on our local economy, already employing some 2,500 people, nearly half of which are in the North West. I am grateful to the Prime Minister for his words of support and will be continuing to impress the need to let Lancashire supply the UK and our allies with this next generation of fighter jet.
Anyone in Turkey and in need of urgent help should call +90 312 455 3344. Anyone in the UK concerned about relatives or friends should call the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in London on 020 7008 5000.
The British Red Cross are working with their colleagues at the Turkish and Syrian Arab Red Crescents to assist humanitarian efforts and donations can be made via: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal?c_name=Turkey-Syria%20Earthquake%20Appeal&c_source=Homepage%20Herobox&c_medium=Internal&c_creative=Donate%20Landing_Turkey-Syria%20earthquake%20appeal%20launch&c_code=175149&adg=BRC%20Site
Details for the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal can be found at: https://www.dec.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5Zbypv2c_QIVRevtCh1DOQHjEAAYASAAEgImZ_D_BwE