Mobile surgery takes to the road

Last week I began my Mobile Surgery. I am visiting towns and villages all over the Ludlow constituency during the summer recess while Parliament is not sitting. I hope to be accessible to all communities over the next six weeks.

It is a great chance to meet constituents and try to help with their concerns. This is one of the most satisfying aspects of an MP's job, especially when you can actually help sort out a problem. I aim to be realistic and straight-forward, to point out where your MP can make a difference, but also to point in the right direction where others make the decisions.

It is also an opportunity for me to get to know all parts of the glorious area where we are so fortunate to live.

I have started in the west, last week I spent a day in the Clun valley and Clun Forest area and another on the Clee Hill. Both are breathtakingly beautiful, especially on a bright sunny day.

It helps me appreciate all that is best about the British countryside. It also makes me even more determined to fight to keep it that way. A thriving rural economy with a healthy farming sector is essential to allow our countryside to be maintained in a responsible, environmentally sensitive way.

This is why I have become a founding member of the All-Party Parliamentary Hill Farming Group, to put pressure on Government to support livestock producers in this country, not least so Shropshire remains a beautiful place to live and viable place to work.