It has been a real pleasure to visit a range of Worcester schools over the last few months to talk to pupils about the environment and climate change.

For me, this has reinforced the huge priority that young people rightly put in protecting the environment and my support for taking steps both to decarbonise our economy and to reduce single use plastics that cause so much unnecessary pollution continues.

With Sir David Attenborough giving evidence in Parliament this week and the recent unanimous decision to embrace a net zero target for carbon emissions, it is good to see that the issue has stayed high on the agenda of Parliament and Government.

Of course, there is enormous attention on the leadership race in the Conservative Party and much of my time in Westminster over the last month has been spent in meetings or hustings to listen to the arguments of the various candidates and to question them. I was proud to support Sajid Javid as a local Worcestershire MP who put strong public services, the environment, apprenticeships and supporting business at the heart of his campaign and, although he is now out of the race, I think he has earned nothing but credit from his participation in it. We are now through the stage where MPs decide, and it will be for members to determine whether Jeremy Hunt or Boris Johnson should become the next party leader and Prime Minister; both have their strengths, and I will work with whichever one is elected.

I was pleased to hear Boris pledge fairer funding for schools as one of his top priorities and take on Sajid’s pledge for 20,000 more police on the streets, and I was also pleased to hear Jeremy, who started his campaign with a visit to Worcester, declaring his determination to eradicate illiteracy and deliver a reduction of tax on both businesses and the lower paid. Both candidates want to ensure we leave the European Union with a deal and much of the debate will focus on how they seek to achieve that.

Meanwhile, there are other crucial issues that have not gone away. In Parliament this week I met with campaigners from the Alzheimer’s Society calling for more investment in social care and a focus on better dementia care, and today I will be celebrating with local nominees for the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

We have had crucial votes on restoring devolved Government for Northern Ireland and giving better protection for veterans, in which I was pleased to support amendments that should bring an end to vexatious prosecutions of servicemen decades after they served.

It was also good to celebrate 25 years of the National Lottery and to hear about the amazing £9.5 million of funding it has brought to good local causes from St Paul’s Hostel to New Hope to Worcester Community Trust to New College.