The annual international campaign to end violence against women and girls kicks off on November 25 - “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” - running till December 10, Human Rights Day.

I’ve reflected on my (small) role supporting the early days of Penzance Women's Aid, and creation of first refuge, 33 years ago! It’s provided essential, lifesaving and enhancing protection for women and their families fleeing domestic violence ever since. What caused me to reflect was the realisation that I had been wrong. Wrong, in that I had then naively believed we were on a progressive path where, in time, there’d be no need for such organisations.

If anything, the problem is worse. But why? 1. There's a growth in the popularity of so-called "social media influencers" who preach extreme, offensive misogyny; 2. The "anti-woke" political right is growing, with outspoken leaders winning (eg in the US recently); and 3. Fundamentalist beliefs which hold that true faith requires the subordination of women remain influential.

So, please support events in our communities. There's no room for complacency.

Farmers will lobby parliament this week. They say they’re “faced with selling their livelihoods in order to pay an inheritance tax bill way beyond their means” and that “this will decimate family farms”! They want MPs to “Stop the Family Farm Tax”.

My Party has joined the substantial lobby against these government plans. And I’m - as those who know me would expect - interested in getting to the truth. So, I look forward to meeting farmers. The government’s plan would reverse the inheritance tax exemption for farmers introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1984, and would apply to farms worth more than £1-million. Except that it would most likely apply to farms worth £3m in many/most cases (where the farm is run as a company and is owned by more than one person – farmer and wife/husband). Further, in cases where it applies, the tax would be at half rate – ie 20% - and could be scheduled by the business over 10 years. The matter has been complicated by many super-rich, using farmland ownership for cunning tax avoidance.

Prof Lord Darzi, who’s “Independent Investigation of the NHS” advised the government’s “Ten Year Plan” will meet my Health Select Committee this week. It’s an excellent document. But leaves many questions:

The government wants to shift more care from “Hospital to Community”, but the Royal College of Emergency Medicine says we need MORE (not fewer) hospital beds because “corridor care” and 12 to 24 hour waits are bad for patients (14,000 avoidable deaths each year!) and demoralising for staff. Can we do both?

On the other hand, the share of NHS spend on GPs and primary (community) care has fallen from 24 per cent to 18 per cent in the last decade. How do we get more funding to the community?

And more…

Andrew George

Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives