Dr Neil Hudson MP hailed the Conservative Party Conference a success after he was able to highlight a range of issues from farming, small businesses, and animal health and welfare to mental health and education. The veterinary MP had a packed diary meeting a host of charities, businesses, and public organisations to help him progress his work in Parliament with the most pressing evidence available. Following the Conference Dr Hudson praised the party for its vibrant new ideas to boost Britain. Dr Hudson addressed the Conservative Friends of Small Business Reception, championing the small businesses that are the lifeblood of local economies.
One of Dr Hudson’s central campaigns has been to improve the nation’s mental health. Building on his extensive work to get safe age-appropriate suicide awareness on the national curriculum alongside mental health champions 3 Dads Walking; Dr Hudson met with Papyrus - Prevention of Young Suicide and Baton of Hope, to see how he could progress the issue further and get more mental first aid trained staff in educational settings. You can read more about his successful work alongside the 3 Dads Walking here.
Another key mental health issue for rural communities is loneliness and at the conference, Government announced it is commissioning research to understand why disabled young people are at greater risk of loneliness to help shape the Conservative’s cross-government efforts to tackle the issue. This builds on Government’s strategy for tackling loneliness and the £29 million Know Your Neighbourhood Fund to tackle social isolation, including the £11.5 million Building Connections Fund.
As the only Veterinary Surgeon in the Commons, Dr Hudson is at the forefront of preserving the UK’s high animal health and welfare standards and finding new solutions to new problems – you can find out more about his various animal health and welfare work here. At Conference Dr Hudson joined a host of charities including Guide Dogs and Cats Protection to discuss animal smuggling, the need for better access for support animals and the grim animal abuses that still persist in the UK.
Representing England’s largest constituency with its many farms, agriculture is also crucial to Dr Hudson’s work in Parliament. He therefore met with the NFU Deputy President, Tom Bradshaw, to discuss food security, farming and biosecurity. This builds on his recent appearance alongside the NFU on a food security panel event which he discussed his Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Report on Food Security. More details are available here.
A key event to unveil exciting new policy decisions, Dr Hudson was particularly heartened to support the expansion of medical school places to cut waiting lists and ensure the NHS’ long-term resilience. This comes after Government announced three new NHS medical schools and the acceleration of expanded medical school places creating 205 additional undergraduate places from September 2024.
The Conservative Government also committed to building a world-class education system by launching a new qualification, investing in teachers and schools and boosting overall educational attainment. Specific measures include the introduction of the Advanced British Standard which will promote parity of esteem between traditional subjects and technical qualifications; increasing teaching time by a minimum of 195 hours over two years; and investing £600 million of new monies in teachers – delivering long-term reform to retain educators.
Lastly, Dr Hudson also highlighted six new technology developers which have been shortlisted to progress the next stage of the small modular reactor (SMR) competition to bolster energy security by backing new nuclear. This will provide cheaper greener energy for the British public without the reliance on malign foreign actors.
Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
“Conservative Party Conference was an incredible display of the exciting new ideas set to reinvigorate the nation. From helping retain the brilliant teachers that give this country so much to boosting medical school places to keep the NHS resilient, I was honoured to hear such a positive and proactive vision for Britain from our party.
“On a personal level I was delighted to meet with key stakeholders to discuss our priorities, such as how we can better support our brilliant farmers, our small businesses, boost the nation’s mental health, and maintain our status as a beacon of animal health and welfare best practice.”
