Last week it was a privilege to represent Cheltenham at an event in 10 Downing Street to mark success in our campaign to ban third-party puppy and kitten sales. This is a vital step forward for animal welfare and I am so grateful to the many people in Cheltenham who supported the campaign.

Cheltenham’s MP, Alex Chalk, has today welcomed the Government’s announcement of a ban on puppy farming in England, following a long running campaign backed by the town’s MP and local animal welfare activists.

It was fantastic to see Gloucestershire Police officers mixing with the community at Cheltenham Together’s World Fun Day in Winston Churchill Gardens at the weekend.

More than two decades on, I can remember getting my A-Level results as if it were yesterday. It’s a grim, nail-biting time. Congratulations to all those who have done well, and a big thank you to the wonderful teaching staff who, year on year, help Cheltenham’s young people achieve so much.

When it comes to inevitable change, society is faced with a stark choice: shape it, or be shaped by it.

If Cheltenham is going to thrive in the future, it’s essential that it is as welcoming and attractive as possible. Obvious perhaps, but at a time of growing threats from internet shopping, it can rarely have been more important.

Does this hot weather remind you of the summer of 1976? Although forty-plus years ago, people still talk about that earlier heatwave.

But there’s an important difference.

The atmosphere in Parliament is unpleasant. There’s no denying it. The passions unleashed by the Chequers proposals have been making politics personal. Things are being said that, frankly, should be expressed differently or not at all. Nor is this just within the Conservative Party.

To lead is to decide.

It’s arrived! I’m delighted that the new LINAC (linear accelerator) radiotherapy machine is now up and running at Cheltenham General Hospital.