From: Greg Hands MP news@greghands.

com
Subject: News Bulletin from Greg Hands MP #476
Date: 21 March 2017 at 15:16
To: news@greghands.com

Issue 476 -Tuesday 21st March 2017

In this edition:
Greg Hands MPs Diary
Since the last edition, Greg:
Website of the week:
Hammersmith & Fulham Held a useful meeting with Dr Michle Dix, Managing Director
Conservative Councillors of Crossrail 2, on the scheme in general and the controversial
and Council Candidates
station proposed for Kings Road, Chelsea.
Photo news: Attended the re-opening and preview of the National Army
Earl's Court development
Museum in Chelsea by H.M. The Queen. The fully revamped
Help make H&F streets museum opens to the public on 30th March.
clean again
Was quiz master at the Avonmore & Brook Green
Photo news: Conservatives, Hammersmith.
Hands visits Hampshire
School, Chelsea Held a useful meeting with Thames Tideway CEO, Andy
Mitchell, to discuss the schemes three sites in Chelsea &
British technology booms
on global stage at Mobile Fulham, and to mitigate the effects of the digging on local
World Congress residents.
Photo news: Visited Capcos Earls Court development for an update from
Hands visits Clarion Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer Gary Yardley on
Events, Fulham
the scheme, especially on the Lillie Road site.
Battersea Heliport: Petition Welcomed local resident and politics enthusiast Georgia Toffolo
for regulatory review
of Made in Chelsea fame to the House of Commons.
Photo news: Visited Fulham-based Clarion Events to discuss the UKs
Hands welcomes Ethiopian
Minister and Ambassador world-leading events/conference industry, including their DSEI,
to House of Commons Security & Counter Terror Expo, and ICE events among others.
Hands in the papers: Drawn further attention to National Grids works on Fulham
Ban night flights at Road due to last from May to September 2017.
Heathrow airport, says MP
Greg Hands Raised concerns about the threat of redevelopment to Daunt
Books on Fulham Road. The Royal Borough planners threw
Photo news:
Hands joins "Save out the proposal.
Brompton" march Visited The Hurlingham Academy to meet local pupils with
Hands in the papers: Chairman of Governors and former Conservative Deputy Mayor
Commonwealth trade and Hammersmith & Council Leader, Stephen Greenhalgh. For
negotiators being seconded
to Britain to help train civil more, see below.
servants ahead of Brexit Attended the Chelsea Riverside and Stanley wards local
Photo news: Conservative AGMs.
Hands attends South By Visited local Chelsea preparatory school, the Hampshire
South West technology
festival in Austin, Texas School, to see at first hand Year 2s project Water Is Life. For
photo, see below.
Hands in the papers:
American giants good for As Minister of State for Trade and Investment, welcomed the
UK tech start-ups Taiwan Representatives to London and to the World Trade
Photo news: Organisation, David C. Lin and Cyrus Chu, to the Department
Hands takes assembly at for International Trade.
Hurlingham Academy
Attended the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. During
Greg Hands speech at the the Conference Greg met local Fulham-based tech company
Civil Nuclear Showcase
2017 The Giant Tab, discussed UK-India collaboration with
representatives from Indias Department of
Photo news:
Hands visits Langford Telecommunications, hosted the Silver Anniversary celebration
Primary School, Fulham for the Global Telecoms Womens Network, and met
Hands in the papers: representatives from Ericsson. There was a record 167 UK
Standing on the Shoulders tech companies at the Conference.
of Giants: An Exhibitors'
View of MWC 2017 Visited Fulham primary, Langford School, and was greatly
impressed by the progress being made, since it became an
Photo news:
Hands inspects new academy.
Crossrail trains Discussed UK-Poland friendship with visiting MPs from
Labour throw 137,000 Poland with the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union.
down the drain by banning Was guest speaker at a round-table on trade at the Legatum
perfectly safe weedkiller
Institute in London.
Photo news: Visited Bombardier Rail UK in Derby to discuss how the
Made in Chelsea star joins
Greg in Westminster Government can support trade ambitions to export and invest
abroad. Greg got to see inside one of the new Crossrail trains,
7 ways to contact
Greg Hands which have a capacity of 1,500 people.
Held a meeting with US tech firm Salesforce to discuss their
fast-growing UK presence in London, Manchester, and Staines.
Spoke at the FCO and DIT Prosperity: Global Britain
Conference.
Spoke at the DIT Civil Nuclear Showcase. For Gregs speech,
see below.
Attended the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in
Austin, Texas, to showcase UK tech and creative expertise in
the interactive, film, and music industries.
Was a guest speaker at Turkish business group Musiad in the
House of Commons.
Welcomed visiting German MP Ralph Brinkhaus to the
Department for International Trade, for talks on Brexit and UK-
German relations.
Held his regular constituency surgery on the Kings Road,
kindly hosted by Metro Bank. To request an appointment,
please send an email to handsg@parliament.uk, or call 020
7219 5448.

Website of the Week:

www.hfconservatives.com

The website of Hammersmith & Fulham Conservative Councillors
and Council Candidates for the 2018 Council elections.

Photo news:
Earl's Court development

Greg Hands MP with Capco's Gary Yardley, examining the latest

plans for the Earl's Court development.

Help make H&F streets clean again

Hammersmith & Fulham's streets are getting dirtier under the Labour
Council.

If the images above look familiar, it's because they were all taken in
H&F and are examples of what is sadly becoming more and more
typical.

Over the last three years, a growing number of residents have been
contacting us about the falling standards in street cleaning and an
increase in fly-tipping locally.

Official figures have now confirmed that this is the case. In the last
year, there were 10,829 reported fly-tipping incidents in the borough,
which represents a staggering 20% increase since 2014.

At the same time, we are seeing the Council take less enforcement
action with the number of fixed penalty notices falling by 31%,
compared with 2014.

Since Labour took control of the Council in 2014, they have changed
priorities and do less monitoring of the quality of street cleaning.

Even worse, in an attempt to plug a gap in their books, the Labour

Council tried to sneak through proposals to scrap weekly bin
collections and move to fortnightly collections. It was only due to
opposition from Conservative Councillors and a backlash from
residents that forced Labour to drop the idea... for now.

The results of these decisions are becoming increasingly difficult to

hide.

YOU can help us make our streets cleaner.

If you know of a spot where there are regular fly-tips or where the
standard of street cleaning simply isn't good enough, please let us
know and we will get enforcement officers to monitor the area.

If we work together, we can help make our area just that little bit better.

Photo news:
Hands visits Hampshire School, Chelsea

Greg Hands MP at the Hampshire School, Chelsea, hearing the

Year 2 project "Water and Life", together with the Headmaster
and staff.

British technology booms on global stage
at Mobile World Congress

Department for International Trade (DIT) helps record number of UK

firms to exhibit at worlds largest mobile technology show in
Barcelona, building on growing tech appetite for Silicon UK.

A record 167 UK tech companies are flying the flag for Britain this
week at the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) in a bid to attract
global business partners, helped by Government support.

They join firms from over 200 countries at the largest ever gathering of
over 100,000 tech professionals, entrepreneurs and investors from
global tech giants like Samsung and Huawei to new start-ups. With
one of the largest national presences the UK, through DIT, is helping
small firms across the country showcase their ideas abroad.

Of the bumper delegation travelling to Barcelona from across the UK,

58 companies who secured government financial support are
representing regions such as Devon, Manchester and Staffordshire,
with 17 from Scotland alone.

Speaking at the event, International Trade Minister Greg Hands said:

The world continues to see the UK as a leading technology
destination of choice, with global tech companies such as Facebook,
Apple and Google leading the charge to invest in Silicon UK.

We have some of the most innovative tech talent and entrepreneurs

in the world, and I want to encourage other investors to take notice
and take advantage of our expertise and ideas. Global industry shows,
like Mobile World Congress, are a huge opportunity for small
businesses, and my department is here helping more UK companies
than ever build the connections they need to revolutionise the world
and go global.

The UKs tech sector attracts more international inward investment

than the rest of Europe combined with 25% of all overseas inward
investment into Europe coming to the UK. Over 348,000 people work
in UK telecomms and related software development.

DIT is working with 75 UK firms at Mobile World Congress to

showcase their products and ideas and match them with potential
partners and investors through meetings at the conference. This
follows the continued commitment of global brands to the UK, with
Snapchat choosing the UK for its new international HQ, and Google
and Facebook both increasing their staff here.

With worldwide mobile data traffic expected to increase a hundredfold

in the next 5 years, as more people get online, the government is
helping UK firms seize an increasing global market.

Companies DIT is supporting include What3Words which offers

national postal services and aid agencies a pinpoint accurate global
address system. Its revolutionary mapping system has also been
nominated for 2 Global Mobile Awards being announced out at MWC.

Giles Rhys Jones, Director at What3Words said: MWC is a fantastic

platform to reach potential partners, investors and influencers, and the
support we have received from the Department for International Trade
to help us get here has been fantastic.

Photo news:
Hands visits Clarion Events, Fulham

Greg Hands MP visiting local Fulham company Clarion Events

last week.

Battersea Heliport: Petition for regulatory

review

A large number of residents have been in touch with Sands End

Conservatives - Cllr Robert Largan, Cllr Steve Hamilton and Jackie
Borland - about the increase in helicopter traffic from the Battersea
Heliport just over the river.

Noise pollution from the Heliport has been a problem for many years.
The Sands End Conservative Action Team have been working with
Greg Hands MP to try and reduce the impact upon residents.

However, in the last year or so the Heliport has started to be used for
commercial tourist flights over London. This has led to a significant
increase in helicopter traffic and much more regular noise disturbance
for residents.

These new tourist flights mark a major change in the use of the
Heliport and local Conservatives believe that the Civil Aviation
Authority should carry out a regulatory review of these flights.

Therefore, Sands End Conservatives have launched a petition calling

on the regulator to step in and carry out a review.

If you agree, please take 2 mins to complete the petition form online at
www.hfconservatives.com/heliport.

HELICOPTER NOISE: WHAT YOU TOLD US

A number of residents have raised the increase in helicopter traffic

recently.

This is what you told us:

I have to keep my windows and balcony door closed because of the

constant propeller noise from running engines

I chose to live here knowing there was a heliport but the increase in
traffic now makes things so much worse.

Living by the river is fantastic but all this extra helicopter traffic is
making things intolerable!

I wrote to the Leader of the Council asking him to help but never got a
reply.

Im not normally a complainer but these tourist flights have been

agreed seemingly with no public consultation. Its just wrong.

Photo news:
Hands welcomes Ethiopian Minister and
Ambassador to House of Commons

Greg Hands MP with Ethiopian Government Minister Dr Arkebe

and the Ethiopian Ambassador H.E. Hailemichael Aberra in talks
about Trade and Investment in the House of Commons last week.

Hands in the papers:

Ban night flights at Heathrow airport, says
MP Greg Hands
Jack Dixon, London News Online
Thursday 9th March 2017

Chelsea and Fulham MP Greg

Hands has urged transport chiefs to
impose a ban on all night flights at Heathrow airport.

The Conservative minister renewed calls for all planes to be grounded

between the hours of 11pm and 6am.

Mr Hands said he was frequently woken up at night by noise from

aircraft passing over west London and suggested that local peoples
lives were being unfairly disrupted.

He also pointed to research from international health bodies, including

the World Health Organisation and the British Medical Journal, that
highlights the damaging impacts of sustained sleep deprivation on
peoples wellbeing.

In a letter to Lord Ahmed, the parliamentary under secretary of state

for transport, Mr Hands argued that there should be a
comprehensive ban on night flights at Heathrow.

He added: For the past 27 years I have lived beneath the Heathrow
flight path and, like many hundreds of thousands of Londoners, I am
frequently woken up by aircraft noise.

These Londoners have jobs to do and families to look after, for which
they require a good nights sleep.

Accordingly, not only are people losing sleep because of being

disturbed by aircraft noise during the night, but their daily lives are
being indirectly affected by it.

Mr Hands said that banning night flights for a seven-hour period each
day would lessen the detrimental impact on hundreds of thousands of
Londoners living beneath the flight path.

And he called for transport bosses to follow the lead of Frankfurt

airport the fourth busiest in Europe which has banned night flights
between 11pm and 5am since 2012.

Mr Hands added: I find it unacceptable that the convenience, quality

of sleep, and the health of millions of residents in London and the
wider South East under the flight path is sacrificed for the sake of a
few thousand inbound passengers per night.

The 16 flights per night at Heathrow is still 16 too many. While I

welcome the Department for Transports stated intention not to
decrease the current restrictions but to encourage the use of quieter
aircraft, I remain convinced that there should be a comprehensive ban
on night flights at Heathrow airport between 11pm and 6am.

A public consultation on separate plans for a third runway at the

airport was held at Hammersmith Town Hall earlier this week.

Hammersmith and Fulham council, alongside local campaign group

h&fnothirdrunway, has strongly objected to the proposals due to air
pollution and extra congestion.

Photo news:
Hands joins "Save Brompton" march

Greg Hands MP addressing the "Save Brompton" march on

Dovehouse Green, Chelsea, on Saturday. Around 1,000 people
joined the march.

Greg Hands MP with Baroness (Betty) Boothroyd as fellow

speakers at the launch of the Save Brompton march in Chelsea.

Hands in the papers:

Commonwealth trade negotiators being
seconded to Britain to help train civil
servants ahead of Brexit
Ben Riley-Smith, The Daily Telegraph
Saturday 25th February 2017

Ministers are recruiting the best

trade negotiators from across the
Commonwealth to help train civil
servants in securing trade deals ahead of Brexit.

Officials from New Zealand, Australia and Canada have been targeted
for secondments at the International Trade Department to help with
preparations for talks.

Greg Hands, the trade minister, issued a public call inviting

Commonwealth trade experts to spend time in Britain during a debate
in the Commons this week.

There is a concern that the UK lacks the expertise for complex trade
negotiations after 40 years of relying on Brussels to secure such
deals.

A New Zealand official has already been seconded to train up Britains

trade policy unit, while there is a hope more will follow.

Speaking in Parliament last week, Mr Hands referenced the kind

offers from New Zealand and other countries to help prepare our
Department for negotiating free trade agreements.

He added: We took up New Zealands offer, and a senior official from

New Zealand was seconded to the Department. I expect that we
would look favourably on further such offers, including from Australia
and Canada.

Governments sources praised the ability of trade negotiators in

Canada - who recently secured a deal with the European Union - as
well in New Zealand.

It is not just about doing Britain a kind turn. Some of these people will
be some of the best in the world at this stuff, the senior source said.

We are basically very open to our Commonwealth or any other

partners wanting to help us.

"We are genuinely pleased and impressed with the willingness of our
traditional friends and allies with helping us to do something that
Britain hasnt done for 40 years.

What the Prime Minister has been absolutely clear on is in ensuring

that trade is at the heart of our Government.

The news will be welcomed by Eurosceptics who argued during the

EU referendum that Brexit could help the UK improve relations with
the Commonwealth.

However it could produce an interesting dynamic when Britain does

end up at the other side of the negotiating table with New Zealand,
Canada and Australia in trade talks in the coming years.

Photo news:
Hands attends South By South West
technology festival in Austin, Texas

Greg Hands MP with Hammersmith-based tech firm The

Conversationalist Agency in Austin, Texas, last week, at South
By South West.

Greg Hands MP with UK technology start-up companies at the

South By South West technology festival in Austin, Texas, last
week.

Greg Hands MP with Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week, in

the Texas Governor's Mansion.

Hands in the papers:

American giants good for UK tech start-
ups
Rhiannon Williams, i News
Monday 27th February 2017

There is no conflict between

encouraging multinational
technology corporations to invest in
Britain and nurturing the UKs own
nascent start-up industry, the UKs
International Trade Minister has
said.

The presence of tech giants including Facebook, Google and

Snapchat is a win-win situation for the UK as foreign investment
benefits domestic producer, said Greg Hands, speaking at Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona.

Mr Hands is representing the UK at the worlds largest mobile

symposium, where more than 200 UK tech firms are exhibiting in an
effort to attract global investment.

I think the UK is already reckoned to be the second most likely place

in the world to generate a new tech unicorn [a start-up valued at over
$1bn] after Silicon Valley, he told i. Were already doing well, and we
need to fight to maintain that position. Big US technology companies
and others see the UK as being an important market in its own right,
but also an important springboard into other foreign markets.

Photo news:
Hands takes assembly at Hurlingham
Academy

Greg Hands MP taking assembly at Hurlingham Academy last

week.

Greg Hands speech at the Civil Nuclear

Showcase 2017
Wednesday 1st March 2017

Introduction

Thank you to Paul [Howarth] for that introduction and let me welcome
you to the second day of the Civil Nuclear Showcase 2017.

Yesterday, the Secretary of State for International Trade spoke about

how the UK nuclear sector remains open for business.

He outlined the huge investment opportunities across the length and

breadth of the UK.

And he spoke of Brexit not as a retrenchment of our civil nuclear

capability, but quite the opposite.

So, let me be clear.

Our nuclear safeguarding and safety regime will continue to be

forward looking.

Our nuclear R&D expertise will remain pride of place.

And, we will enter into new trade agreements that will allow our
nuclear programme to excel.

Later this afternoon, youll hear country briefings on China, France

and Central Europe.

Youll see the impressive level of opportunity out there which British
expertise can fulfil.

So my message today is simple.

The UK will become the leading international partner of choice in the

civil nuclear field exporting our expertise right across the nuclear life
cycle and right across the world.

We will do this by seizing the global opportunity out there, harnessing

the UKs world leading capability.

We will ensure that very capability continues to develop and

strengthen at home underpinned by a robust industrial strategy.

And finally government, and in particular my Department for

International Trade, will double-down on our support to ensure the
UKs nuclear sector continues to grow.

Global opportunity

The very make-up of this room reflects a truly global industry.

From fuel services and waste management companies, to regulators

and reactor builders nuclear spans continents.

In the next 13 years, the overseas market for building new reactors will
be worth 930 billion across 30 countries, and around 250 billion will
be spent on decommissioning old ones.

In fact by 2030, the UK will be sizing a potential export market of 240

billion.

The opportunity, although impressive in size, should always be seen

through the lens of international standards and values.

The UK is rightly guided by our international non-proliferation

obligations in relation to exporting nuclear-related items.

The UNs International Atomic Energy Agency provides a stable global

framework, under which UK companies should have the confidence to
take advantage of a world of opportunity.

And this confidence is well deserved.

UK export capability

Our world class nuclear supply chain capability is the product of over
60 years of experience and research.

It started with Calder Hall in Cumbria in 1956 the worlds first civil
nuclear programme.

From this strong base, UK industry has plans for new nuclear reactors
amounting to up to 18 gigawatt of new capacity over the coming years.
It has led some to claim the UK has become the focus of a nuclear
renaissance.

Even though we do not have a nuclear reactor vendor of our own, UK

companies possess experience in all existing technologies and even
some future ones.

So were ideally placed to supply and impartially advise global

partners on all aspects of nuclear new build.

Our firms have worked on some of the most challenging waste

management and decommissioning programmes in the world,
including the safe clean-up of nuclear sites from Japan to Germany to
the United States.

We are specialists in the fuel life cycle, plant life maintenance and
extension, and are also providing the other key skills required to
support a nuclear programme - from education and training to financial
and legal consultancy.

And this is translating into export success.

From the UAE, to Turkey and Central Europe, British companies have
been winning contracts.

But our ability to look abroad depends on being strong at home.

We are focussing on innovative and high quality nuclear

manufacturing through our Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centre, which operates a Fit 4 Nuclear programme to
ensure a strong supply chain.

Cutting edge R&D is being developed in centres such as the Dalton

Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester, and plans are now
being put in place for the China-UK Joint Research and Innovation
Centre.

And we are ensuring we have the right number of people with the right
skills at the right time, through organisations such as the National
Skills Academy for Nuclear and the National College for Nuclear.

But its all very well having a business policy, an infrastructure policy,
and a skills policy, but if they dont work together, well hit a ceiling.

Our Industrial Strategy joins these up and will unleash our potential.

Where we see opportunities overseas, we encourage UK companies

to work together to win these contracts and where there are gaps, we
will redirect investment in those areas.

All this shows a capability that is constantly being strengthened, that

continues to set global standards, and that will ensure the UK
becomes the international partner of choice in nuclear.

Government support

Before I close, I want to talk about the support available that underpins
this ambition.

My departments nuclear team in London and our commercial officers

based around the world from Berlin to Beijing, will continue
supporting UK businesses operating overseas, whether through
operational support or via strategic government to government
discussions.

I was in China earlier this year where I met with the China General
Nuclear following their investment in the UK last year.

This investment stands to open many opportunities for UK companies

throughout the supply chain.

I am pleased to hear that my department and CGN are also holding a

related workshop this afternoon, to discuss how to develop a win-win
approach to UK-China supply chain collaboration.

But it isnt just support at the diplomatic level.

Financing is being provided by UK Export Finance, the UKs export

credit agency which is part of my department.

Just look at Wales based Flamgard Calidair, who, thanks to UKEF, will
now provide fire and shut off dampers to the Chernobyl site
demolishing the previous containment building, whilst securing the
remaining radioactive material.

And my department will be leading a supply chain mission to Hungary

and the Czech Republic in March, as well as missions to the US
Waste Management Symposia and the China International Nuclear
Exhibition in Beijing.

We want companies from across the UK and across the supply chain
signing up.

The level of tailored support on offer for UK companies is as much

unprecedented as it is effective.

And the outcomes speak for themselves.

The Department for International Trade has already helped UK firms

win hundreds of millions pounds worth of civil nuclear export contracts
and we have ambitious targets for the next 5 years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, few industries will have a greater impact on our way of

life in the coming decades than nuclear.

I am both delighted and proud that the UK is already seen as a world

leader in this sector.

The UK will always be forward looking; we will always allow our

companies to excel.

We will truly be the international partner of choice in nuclear.

Over 60 years ago, we helped lead the world in civil nuclear capability.
Lets look to reclaim that mantle, starting today.

Thank you.

Photo news:
Hands visits Langford Primary School,
Fulham

Greg Hands MP with pupils at Langford Primary School, Fulham,

last week. The school has shown impressive improvement since
becoming an academy.

Hands in the papers:

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An
Exhibitors' View of MWC 2017
Mobile Marketing
Wednesday 8th March 2017

Mark Jones, founder and managing director of Giant iTab, details his
time at the industry's biggest trade show and conference, and the
technology he saw that impressed him.

After supporting over 500 shows

over the last five years, MWC 2017
certainly ranks as one of the biggest
trade show events I have ever been
to, or that our company has ever taken part in.

Here we were standing on the shoulders of giants, with the chance of

meetings with big players in mobile such as Samsung, Huawei, IBM,
Cheetah Mobile and Google, and the opportunity of listening to
keynote speakers including Rajeev Suri, Jos Mara lvarez-Pallete
Lpez, Stphane Richard and Reed Hastings.

More than 108,000 attendees flocked to Mobile World Congress.

Professionals from 208 countries and territories were present, and the
event was covered by approximately 3,500 members of the
international press and media. More than 2,300 companies
participated in the 2017 exhibition, which spanned nine halls and
eleven outdoor spaces at Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuc.

Perhaps this is why our very own UK Minister for Trade and
Investment, Greg Hands, took time out of his busy schedule to visit the
UK pavilions at MWC 2017, pushing the boat out for emerging UK
export companies under the now familiar banners of Technology is
Great and Business is Great. Here is the UK government
acknowledging and showing their support for the growing importance
of UK companies and mobile technology.

The mobile is now probably the most significant single device on the
planet today. This was one of our predictions, seven years ago, when
we set out to recreate giant interactive tablets and smartphones from
large touchscreens, enabling more cohesive and connected marketing
presentations using touch. Now you can have a touchscreen
considerably bigger than your own phone to showcase, market and
present your apps and mobile content, recreating exactly the same
familiar user experience as your handheld devices, but on a bigger
scale.

No longer satisfied with just 3G or 4G? Well, now 5G connectivity is

being seriously talked about as a forthcoming network, and major
step-up in creating better connectivity of mobile devices when no wi-fi
or hard wired connections exist.

With the advent of 5G, new opportunities are coming to send richer,
more enticing content. Whether this comes as the latest apps, ad
banners, videos or social media, it is the content we receive and
disseminate through our mobile devices which keeps us coming back
for more, and as that continues to evolve, it will enable marketers to
produce more detailed, targeted and relevant communications.

The ability to deliver digital media to mobile devices is also having an

impact on environmental sustainability. Even the scanning devices
supplied by GSMA contributed towards this, not only recording digital
versions of attendee information, replacing the need for exchanging
business cards, but also delivering product brochures to delegates
mobile phones whose badges we scanned, thus saving on time and
print costs (and stopping that bin on the way out of the show getting
full way too early in the day).

The GSMA, which sponsors the UNs sustainable development goals,

stated on posters around the show that as an industry, we can
leverage the mobile networks weve built and the services we deliver
to help achieve the UN sustainable goals a fantastic and noble goal.

Beyond conventional mobile, the future impact of drones was

emphasized at this years MWC. The number of drone exhibitors was
significant, many advertising the all-important ability to manage and
control fleets of drones using mobile devices. Imagine the potential
here for managing deliveries of postage, parcels and medicines.

Couple this with the latest global mapping solution from firms like
What3Words, which effectively maps the whole planet into tiny 3m x
3m segments, and you can imagine us now having the capability to
drop urgent medical supplies into a drought zone in the deserts of
Kenya, and do so to an exact location no bigger than three square
metres in locations where no GPS or roads maps even exist.

Having left Barcelona and MWC exhausted but full of new ideas, I was
to be impressed by mobile technology once more, this time by
Norwegian Airways, who enabled everyone on our plane to continue
their always-on connected lives by offering superb quality on-board
wi-fi at 30,000 feet. Now, what would the Wright Brothers have thought
about that?

Photo news:
Hands inspects new Crossrail trains

Greg Hands MP visiting Bombardier's train factory in Derby,

pictured here in one of the new Crossrail trains, due to start
service on the Elizabeth Line in London, later this year.

Labour throw 137,000 down the drain by

banning perfectly safe weedkiller

Hammersmith & Fulham Labour Councillors were left with red faces
recently as scientists and regulatory bodies all over the world declared
the locally banned weedkiller glyphosate perfectly safe.

Answering a Written Parliamentary Question in the House of Lords,

the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: The European Food Safety
Authority has reviewed the scientific data as part of the ongoing EU
review of the approval of glyphosate and concluded that glyphosate
meets all of the relevant safety standards. UK regulatory experts
agree.

The result of this needless ban has been 137,000 of local taxpayers
money wasted on experimenting with alternative weedkillers.

Commenting, H&F Conservative Leader Cllr Greg Smith said: This

sorry episode is just another example of the Labour Council jumping
from vanity project to vanity project, with no regard for what the
borough actually needs. They are more interested in a quick headline
than delivering basic council services well.

This is made even worse given the enormous waste of taxpayers

money they have spent in experimenting with alternative methods,
which according to their own website amounts to little more than hot
steam.

Now regulatory bodies all over the world have declared glyphosate
safe, they should return to using it immediately and get our roads and
paths weed free once more.

Photo news:
Made in Chelsea star joins Greg in
Westminster

Greg Hands MP with Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo in the

House of Commons last week. Georgia lives locally and is a
committed Conservative!

7 ways to contact Greg Hands MP:
By Phone: 020 7219 5448
By email: mail@greghands.com
By post: Greg Hands MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
In person: Click here for details of how
to book an appointment at
Greg Handss weekly
surgery

www.greghands.com

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