SOLIHULL MP Julian Knight has has made his first speech in Parliament since being elected in May.
Mr Knight followed maiden speech traditions by setting out his priorities for the borough in front of a busy main chamber and honoured former Liberal Democrat MP Lorely Burt who he beat at the recent election by an almost 13,000 vote majority.
Mr Knight marked out some of the other things that made Solihull special including its thriving volunteers and that it was voted the best place to live in 2013.
He attacked the disparity in funding between Solihull and Birmingham, praising the excellent schools in Solihull and Shirley, despite receiving £1,000 a year less than their counterparts in the city.
Before becoming an MP, Julian had campaigned extensively on the issue of fairer funding for schools in Solihull.
Mr Knight also told Parliament of Solihull’s unique story as a town, how it began as a clearing in a forest some 1,000 years ago, and remains uniquely Urbs in Rure, a ‘growing town that can still feel small’.
He explained this uniqueness made Solihull prize its independence and said: “As we face the challenging and exciting prospect of devolution, Solihull stands ready to play its part, happy to co-operate on big-ticket items such as infrastructure, potentially policing, transport and skills for our young people, but it does so as a strong independent town.
“I intend to be a strong voice for the town I represent.”
