One of my priorities as your MP is to protect our precious greenspaces. It should always be brownfield first.

Stourbridge faces many challenges in this respect. Land along Worcester Lane has been earmarked for housing in the draft local plan and, at Corbett Meadow, a planning application has now been submitted.

Corbett Meadow is a campaign I have been heavily involved with. I would like to thank councillors Paul Bradley, Pete Lee and Kamran Razzaq for their commitment to protect the meadow. Also, the Corbett Meadow Action Group. I have attended many of its meetings. They are desperate to protect the meadow from development. I will help in any way I can and its aims have my full support.

It is important that we unlock the opportunity of home ownership for everyone in Stourbridge who wants it, but we also need to ensure we are building homes where communities want them and in a sustainable way close to transport links and amenities.

We need a Prime Minister on September 5 who is committed to do this.

This is one important reason why I will be supporting Liz Truss in the leadership contest. Her policy is very clear, and it mirrors my own view. We need to reform mortgage rules and red tape that is holding back housebuilding. There are around a million homes with permission across the country that have not yet been built. We also need to make sure homes are built where communities want them by removing Whitehall-imposed top-down targets. Local communities are best placed to know where to develop.

Soaring energy costs, driven by Putin’s war, remain a huge concern. Some people are suggesting that nationalising our energy companies would help. However, any nationalised energy company would still have to pay sky-high prices for foreign coal, oil, and gas with the burden falling on the taxpayer.

One way forward is introducing a one-year moratorium on energy levies, bringing average household energy bills down by £153 to help families through the winter. I also support scrapping the National Insurance tax rise, saving the average worker £240 a year. These are Liz Truss’s policies and they make sense. The first way to support people squeezed by cost-of-living pressures is not to take their money in tax in the first place. Then we must look at continued targeted support like the £1200 per household already aimed at the lowest paid.

Finally, a huge congratulations to all those involved in the Commonwealth Games. I have never been prouder of our second city, the region, and its people. From the athletes, the games makers, the volunteers, and the spectators. It has also brought significant investment to the region and a great deal of pride too.