Andy Reed MP is giving his support to National School Sport Week, which runs from 29 June to 3 July. The initiative is the result of the partnership between the Youth Sport Trust and Lloyds TSB, one of the sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Participating schools will be celebrating what has been achieved in PE and sport and launching new initiatives.

Seven schools in Loughborough are taking part – Limehurst High School, Our Lady’s Convent School, Loughborough High School, Fairfield Preparatory School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Loughborough Grammar School and Loughborough CofE Primary School – encouraging pupils to be the best they can be.

Andy said:

“I would like to wish all the staff and pupils well at the seven schools participating in School Sport Week for a successful week. I have always been a strong advocate for the role of PE and school sport and am delighted that this week offers the chance to highlight the improvements that have taken place in recent years. Good luck to all who are taking part in Loughborough this week!

“I am also delighted that David Martin, who is at Loughborough University, has been selected as a Lloyds TSB Local Hero. The Local Heroes programme gives support to emerging Olympic and Paralympic prospects. Congratulations to David on this recognition of his talent and best of luck for the future.”

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill was supported by Parliament last night. It has been a long awaited piece of legislation and Andy Reed said he had received more emails and letters about this Bill than any other for a long time.

"There is clearly widespread support for this Bill which fulfils our manifesto commitment.

Andy Reed said "I have been lobbied by lots of individual constituents and organisations about this Bill. I am delighted to say that it has passed its first hurdle in the Commons and looks set to become law in the coming months. This is good news for all those who have been pressing for this measure for the last few years.

The Bill will...

• This Bill is a Labour manifesto commitment, and is widely supported by civil society and marine communities and businesses. We have worked closely with all interested people to turn the good Bill presented to the Lords into a better, stronger, more transparent Bill as it reaches the Commons.

• This Bill is an international first – a major piece of legislation which will introduce a new framework for the seas, based on marine spatial planning, that balances conservation, energy and resource needs.

• Such extraordinary habitats and resources need protection and management. We must act now to preserve and manage our seas and all that lies beneath for generations to come.

• No other country has attempted such a strategic approach to the enormously complex issue of managing the marine environment based on principles of sustainable development and better regulation.

• The bill shows Labour’s commitment to fair chances for all, creating a new right of pedestrian access to the English coast, so that every family has the opportunity to enjoy the length and breadth of our coastline, wherever they live. This should also promote tourism. We want the English coastline to become a wildlife and landscape corridor.

• The current arrangements in place for managing marine activities and protecting marine wildlife and the marine environment are complex and can be confusing and costly for all involved. New activities, changes in technology and a deepening understanding of the seas around us and the way we affect them have also exposed some gaps and limitations in this system.

Andy Reed MP asked the Prime Minister in his Statement to the Commons yesterday on the European Council what hope people would have that promises to stick to the commitments on the MDGS would be met when experience shows other countries have not even met their existing promises.

He told the Prime Minister that NGOs had looked at promises made at the G8 and other Council meetings and found that whilst Britain has fared pretty well other major economies had only delivered a fraction of their promises to the world's poor.

Exchange:
The Council was right to commit itself again to reaching the millennium development goals. However, non-governmental organisations have recently highlighted that previous promises made by the Council and the G8 have largely not been met by other European countries, although a green light was given to the UK's performance. What commitments were given and what future remains for the poorest people and the rest of the planet when so many previous promises have been lost?

Gordon Brown:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the European Council, the G8 and then the G20 will have to continue to focus on how we achieve the millennium development goals. There are 40 million more children at school than in 2000, so progress is being made in a number of areas, including infant mortality as well as education, but there is a long way to go. That is why when we come to the G8 in a few weeks' time, I will press for further action on famine and malnutrition, which has tragically risen over the last year, as well as continuation of the necessary action to meet the millennium development goals on infant and maternal mortality and education, as well as on the whole issue of poverty.

Year 6 pupils from Shelthorpe School visited the House of Commons yesterday. They also had the chance to visit Downing Street and pose outside the famous door at No10!

Andy Reed said "Staff, parents and pupils at Shelthorpe school have been fantastic at coming down to Westminster each year. This is not just a one-off visit. They do lots of work on citizenship before they arrive and are pretty clued up. I did a Question Time style event with them earlier in the school year which they organised. This year they had written to the Prime Minister to see if he could take part in the Question Time. He replied that he couldn't but would they like to come to Downing Street instead!"

The Commons are due to vote today to elect a new Speaker. Voting will take place in a secret ballot this afternoon.

Andy Reed said "Whilst the election of a new Speaker is important at this point in the history of Parliament we cannot expect too much of them. The former Speaker was used as a scapegoat for our problems but the new Speaker can only reform Parliament if MPs allow them to do so.

"I have been clear that I will be supporting John Bercow MP. I believe he is a break from the past and can move Parliament forwards. I have known him personally for the last few years and despite his right wing Tory past he is genuinely a reformed character! Too many of the other candidates are a step backwards.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today announced the launch of the UK Climate Projections 2009; a groundbreaking, Defra-funded tool that will help us to understand how the UK’s climate will change during the 21st century.

The Met Office has used the latest climate science to develop the Projections, which show the probability of changes in temperature, rainfall, sea-level, humidity, cloud, and radiation.

Results are provided for three different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios – high, medium and low – and for seven time periods up to 2099. The information is freely available for everyone to use.

"In a week where we seem more obsessed about black outs in expense forms we have in this document increasing evidence of a blackout for the planet. As Al Gore says the next generation will say of us 'what were you thinking' as we plunge headlong into destroying this fragile earth. We can only bury our heads in the sand for so long - and that period is now at an end.

"This has to be the most important issue facing us and yet because it is so large it gets ignored. I want the planet to survive for my children and grandchildren. I just wish more people would take this seriously and start to wish the same for their families and the millions who will suffer because of the changes in the climate. For some on the poorest countries in the world they are living with those consequences already - famine, drought, floods and hunger.

"It is sad we have allowed our politics in this country to become about personality and process. It sickens me when we know 30,000 children will die today from preventable diseases and we are plunging our planet into oblivion.