Henley MP makes first speech in Parliament

HENLEY MP Freddie van Mierlo has made his maiden speech in Parliament

On Thursday last week, he talked about the history of the seat and its previous MPs, including Michael Heseltine and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who were all Conservatives.

He then thanked his predecessor, John Howell, who did not contest the general election in July and is currently recovering from stroke.

Mr van Mierlo, who lives in Henley, also spoke about the town, Watlington, which he represents on Oxfordshire County Council, RAF Benson, the River Thames and river pollution.

He said: “I am looking forward to visiting HMP Huntercombe in my constituency and paying tribute to the prison staff there.

“I thank my predecessor, John Howell, who represented the constituency for 16 years before stepping down. I am sure that the whole house will join me in wishing him well as he recovers from a stroke.

“I feel extremely privileged to stand in this chamber, but whatever the future holds, I will have no greater privilege than being married to my wife.”

Mr van Mierlo said he had been expecting to be called earlier than he had been.

He said: “In your maiden speech you have a procedure to what should be covered, you say thanks to your predecessor, and I really wanted to share with my colleagues in Parliament a snapshot of just how amazing this constituency is.

“I was reliably well rehearsed in my speech, I had anticipated to give it the previous week but I wasn’t called, so it was quite well practised in that sense.”

Earlier that day Mr van Mierlo asked a question to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, about the ongoing closure of the Marsh Lock horsebridge.

He said: “Will the Secretary of State meet me and the Environment Agency to discuss the closure of Marsh Lock bridge on the Thames path in Henle?”

The minister, Steve Reed, agreed and the meeting is expected to take place some time in October.

Mr van Mierlo has also written to the chief executive of the Environment Agency to ask for action on the bridge, to discuss funding and getting the bridge fixed.

As the Henley Standard reported three weeks ago, Mr van Mierlo called the diversion “long, dangerous and unsuitable” after it was revealed that the bridge may not re-open until at least the summer of 2026 and the repairs could cost about £1.3m.

The root of the delay was a dispute between the agency and Oxfordshire County Council over who was responsible for the repairs. In April the agency acknowledged it owned the bridge but, five months later, had not yet applied for funding from the government to pay for it.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Theresa May has taken her seat in the House of Lords. Baroness May of Maidenhead, who lives in Sonning, stepped down as MP at the last election after 27 years.

The 67-year-old wore the traditional scarlet robe for the introduction ceremony in the upper chamber when swearing an oath of allegiance to the King.

Once she joined the benches she was with greeted with a loud shouts of approval from fellow Tory peers. She has championed causes including the fight against modern slavery.