To commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, I joined hundreds of local people at Remembrance services in Aldershot.

As the MP representing the Home of the British Army – and as a veteran myself – each year it is an enormous honour to represent the constituency at local Remembrance services.

Along with the Aldershot Garrison Commander and local dignitaries, I laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in Municipal Gardens, Aldershot on behalf of our community. I then attended the deeply moving Service of Remembrance and wreath-laying at The Royal Garrison Church of All Saints in Aldershot.

I would like to thank the Aldershot Royal British Legion for organising this important and well-attended event.

A THANK YOU TO OUTGOING GARRISON COMMANDER

Some of the unsung heroes of Christmas are the invaluable Royal Mail team who sort and deliver millions of Christmas cards and presents - on top of normal post.

I visited the Farnborough Royal Mail Delivery Office to meet the team and thank them for all their hard work in the run-up to Christmas. 

Thank you to Operation Performance Lead Karen Wild and Customer Operations Manager Kevin Watmore for showing me around. 

If you've ever thought about working for the Royal Mail, then you may be interested to know that they are recruiting for roles in our local area.

You can search for jobs here:
https://jobs.royalmailgroup.com/

This month marked Family Business Week, which recognises the huge contribution family businesses make to our high streets - particularly in the run up to Christmas!

I took the opportunity to stop by some of the fantastic family-run businesses in Aldershot to offer my support and thanks.
 

The Government announced this month that the Prime Minister's pledge to halve inflation by the end of 2023 has now been achieved. 

In January this year, inflation was at 10.1% and has dropped to 4.6% in October - a fall of more than half. The Government and the Bank of England are working closely to reduce inflation further, to the Government's monetary target of 2%.

This is real progress which will help with the cost of living, and shows that the Government's plan for the economy is working.

This month, in my role as Minister for Europe, I have been busy representing the UK across eight different nations in mainland Europe and Central Asia.

This month's engagements started off with a visit to the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia, in a bid to deepen bilateral ties and reaffirm the UK's commitment to Baltic security.

I was also delighted to attend both NATO's first ever Cyber Defence Conference in Berlin and the Paris Peace Forum, in which we discussed a wide range of matters including tackling cyber crime and fostering sustainable economic development.

I also undertook official duties in the countries of Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

November has been a busy month in Parliament, with both the King's Speech and the Autumn Statement.

His Majesty King Charles III delivered the first King's Speech in more than 70 years, in which he outlined the Government's plans for the next Parliamentary session. This included a commitment to harsher sentencing for the most serious offenders, tackling inflation whilst also nurturing growth in our economy, investing in Armed Forces and supporting our invaluable veterans. You can watch the King's Speech here.

The Chancellor also delivered his Autumn Statement to Parliament this month, in which he set out measures to help working people, create more jobs and grow the economy. The Statement included 110 new measures that will cut employee National Insurance; maintain the Triple Lock, which will uprate pensions from April by 8.5%; and the National Living Wage will rise, giving a boost of £1,800 to the average annual earnings of a full-time worker. You can watch the Autumn Statement here.

SSAFA - the Armed Forces charity - held a competition for local Armed Forces families to get into the spooky spirit by dressing up, with prizes for the best entries. 

I was delighted to be asked to be the judge for this competition, with there being so many tremendously creative costumes!

I would like to offer a huge congratulations to the three winning entries and thank you to SSAFA for organising this terrific competition.

You can watch the video announcing the winners on SSAFA's Facebook here.

Your Voice in Westminster

As your local Member of Parliament, my first priority remains to effectively represent the residents of Aldershot, Farnborough, Blackwater and Hawley to the best of my ability. If I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact my office on  01252 377567 or leo.docherty.mp@parliament.uk