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.

Details of all MPs expenses have been made available online today on the Parliament website.

"I have added the links on my website on the pages I have had for years setting out my Pay and Allowances. Please follow the links.

"The Daily Telegraph have already investigated these claims in detail as people know. I have also opened up these details to my local newspaper The Loughborough Echo as well as allowing them to visit my accommodation needed in London. Hopefully everybody having all this information is the only way to start to rebuild trust. I have commented regularly on this site about aspects of Pay & Allowances. I am sure people will react differently to some aspects of these claims. These are subjective opinions of course and I respect those who hold them. There is not a lot more I can add to what I have already said on these pages, although if there are further details that need explanation I will respond on this website in due course. It is also posible to download the rule book under which we made the claims. These are important to read in conjunction with the claims.

UK unemployment rose to 2.261 million in the three months to April, the highest since November 1996, the Office for National Statistics said.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed said the government needed to continue investing in the economy to stave off the worst of the effects of the global recession on the local economy.

The jobless rate rose to 7.2%, the highest since July 1997.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 39,000 in May, less than the 60,000 which had been forecast by analysts.

Young people have been hard-hit by the recession, with the unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds now at 16.6%.

The Speaker Michael Martin bowed out of Westminster today to applause from MPs on all sides of the House.

The Speaker was forced to quit by growing discontent from MPs last month and will stand down from the Commons.

"I have known Michael personally for the last few years through his support of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship and the National Prayer Breakfast. I have always found him a warm gentle man and have never recognised the media description of him. Whilst I am sorry he has had to go I do understand that it became almost impossible for him to remain. But he is right that he is not entirely to blame for the MPs Expenses row. Parliament had a chance to act last year and failed to take some modest steps. He has been a bit of a scapegoat."

Loughborough MP Andy Reed was one of the guests to present prizes at the Loughborough Experience Awards last night. He presented the Best Team Award to the AU Executive Team.

The Loughborough Experience Award was set up in 2005 by the executive of the Students' Union who wished to recognise, and reward the students who put a lot of effort into life at Loughborough. It was felt that the atmosphere around Loughborough, created by the most active students, is a contributing factor in making Loughborough one of the best Universities to come to. The Experience Awards look to give something back to the students who give a lot during their time here.

The panel receives nominations from a wide range of people connected with Loughborough, be they sabbatical officers, hall chairs, hall wardens, academics, or regular students. These nominations are brought together and each one is discussed for their individual merits. The panel looks for selflessness, attitude, impact of the nominees activities, and variation in activities. There will be between 7 and 12 winners decided, all of which will receive a prize and their name in the degree programme. Out of those winners, an overall winner shall be decided who has contributed the most, and made the most impact. They shall be awarded the Sir David Wallace Trophy for extreme achievement.

Facebook is changing and so is local MP Andy Reed. The social networking site has made it easier to find people with simpler addresses.

"I can now be found at

www.facebook.com/andyreedmp

Loughborough MP Andy Reed was at the opening of the Sileby Boxing Academy last night as it opened its doors to the village for the first time.

"I was contacted a few months ago about the possibility of this new academy opening to give youngsters in Sileby something to do. In a short time the Committee have been amazing and pulled this all together. The place was packed last night with lots of youngsters keen to sign up. It will be a great asset for the village. I was genuinely impressed by the quality of the work they have done.

"I was happy just to be there and offer my help and support. I was offered time in the ring but when I saw the standard of some of the youngsters I thought it was safer to decline!"

The race for the Speakers job has stepped up this week with the announcement that Ann Widdicombe and Margaret Beckett have joined the race. Other surprises include Parmajit Dhanda MP throwing his hat in too.

Andy Reed said "It looked like there was going to be a battle between modernising John Bercow the Tory and the establishment figure of Sir George Young, but the latest announcements in the last 48 hours may have opened up the contest again."

"I will be choosing a Speaker who has the strength to bring the arcane rules of the House of Commons into the 21st Century. We need a strong candidate who can make the government of the day listen and respond to back benchers. We need somebody who can make this place relevant to people outside."

"For too long we have moved at the pace of the slowest reformers in the Commons & let the Executive get away with far too much. Time after time Ministers are rebuked for making statement outside to the press before coming to the Commons but it just carries on. I will want a Speaker who can stand up to the Executive on behalf of the House of Commons and open up its proceedings so that they match the expectations of the public in a 24/7 media world"

"As usual people who have not spoken to you for 2 years are suddenly your best friend when asking for your support. It's a funny place at times like this. The runners will soon find out who their real friends are!"

Andy Reed MP today warned local 18-30s about the dangers of burning in the sun after learning more about sun safety from experts at Cancer Research UK.

Andy Reed attended the annual 'Molewatch Clinic' at Westminster today where he was given a clear warning message about the risk posed by sunburn. He also had his photo taken with a 6 ft mole!

More follows.