Had a very busy day today with visits to Gunness, Epworth and East Cowick, followed by an evening cup of tea in Airmyn with my neighbour and local Councillor Caroline Fox. Before all of that though I met with Jonathon Brant, Alex Godfrey and Caroline Ellis from the local National Farmers Union (see photo).

We had a really good discussion of the various challenges facing the farming community at the moment. We spent quite a lot of time discussing the various form-filling and regulations which afflict farmers especially hard. I assured them that the Conservatives had already pledged to scrap the ridiculous system that leads to farmers filling out the same information time and time again. As a teacher, I can relate to their concerns about endless paperwork. Likewise, I was able to assure them that we will do something about the gold-plating of EU legislation which sees the British Government add more regulations to those already forced on us from the EU.

After that I had a quick stop to see Pat in Gunness who runs the Scunthorpe Cat Rescue. I recently raised £150 for the centre and so I popped in to drop the cheque off to a very grateful Pat; I am sure the cats will be grateful too!

Then it was on to Belton, Epworth and East Cowick before I drove back home to Airmyn. The last few weeks have been mad with so many groups and people asking me to pop in to see them. This weekend we spent in Snaith where we had an absolutely brilliant response on the doorsteps.

I never get round to updating this blog enough as I never seem to have the time. Apologies for the long gaps, I will try to do better from now on!

Prospective Brigg & Goole MP, Andrew Percy, and Snaith, Airmyn and Rawcliffe Ward Councillor, Caroline Fox, joined thousands of East Riding residents in welcoming the 1^st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment to East Yorkshire last week. The battalion has recently completed tours of duties in Iraq and Kosovo and will shortly begin training for deployment to Afghanistan.

The ‘homecoming’ parade took place in Beverley where the troops marched through the town before being inspected by the Chairman of East Riding Council and the Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding.

Prospective MP Andrew Percy says; “Caroline and I wanted to show our support for the troops who have served our country proud in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The parade was especially poignant given the recent heavy casualties in Afghanistan, where these troops will shortly deploy too.

The reception from the thousands of residents who came out to cheer the 1^st battalion was very moving, and I think everyone there felt quite emotional. It was really great to see so many people come together and it really did remind us that, as difficult as the times may be for our country at the moment, there is still a lot of pride in this country and the values it stands for.

The 1^st battalion will deploy to Afghanistan following their training and we must all pray that they return safely as soon as possible.”

Cllr Caroline Fox adds; “It’s about time we got behind our troops and showed them that, whether you agree with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan or not, we are proud of their work and we respect them for putting their lives on the line for our country. You could see the pride in the young men as they marched last Thursday and I know they appreciated the huge turnout.”