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David is very aware of the benefits of breastfeeding for the health of both mother and child and of some of the barriers that have discouraged mothers from breastfeeding. He led a successful campaign for legislation to protect the rights of mothers to breastfeed.
An aging society is bringing major challenges to our communities. Caring both for elderly relatives and for partners and and children with specific needs is for many families costly and difficult. David was one of the few MPs in the previous parliament who made a detailed study of this problem, working closely with Staffordshire University. He is putting forward coherent proposals to help us find effective ways of meeting these challenges, which helped prompt the last Labour government's plans for a National Care Service. The Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government has announced it will set up a Commission to consider these plans.
Most of us now recognise the environment and climate change are major concerns. David has been aware of these issues and has been actively seeking solutions for much longer than most of us, or most other MPs. He has worked with two Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Climate Change respectively.
His expertise on these issues is widely known in Westminster and beyond, and he has been called upon to chair a number of committees on environmental matters.
David has campaigned actively to combat the damaging effects of fuel poverty on families throughout his time in Westminster. His camapigning was probably instrumental in his becoming a Minister with responsibility for fighting fuel povery 2009-2010. The steep rise in fuel prices has made this campaign more urgent. David is working actively with groups in Stafford to help increase energy efficiency throughout the borough.
Before becoming an MP, David worked for many years as a solicitor and saw the many problems caused by family breakdown. He also saw how young people who have been through the care system can be disadvantaged.
This is the background to his strong commitment to support family life and to improve the quality of the care when it has to be provided by the state.
David is vary aware of the importance of encouraging successful business within Stafford, and he works hard at keeping in contact with the Chamber of Commerce, new businesses, and looking out for new opportunities to develop business in Stafford. In the new global economy keeping our skills up to date and relevant to the new opportunities is vitally important and David is actively encouraging business to use "Train to Gain"
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