Iain Stewart MP column: 'Delighted Queen has given Milton Keynes city status - it's one of the best in the world'

I hope this finds you well after a joyous month of celebrating Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. I thoroughly enjoyed attending and getting involved in local events over the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend to celebrate this wonderful achievement, especially with the glorious weather we had.

On that note, I am absolutely delighted that Her Majesty The Queen has awarded Milton Keynes city status. Whilst I note I may be biased, I truly believe that Milton Keynes is one of the best cities in the world. The city of Milton Keynes has so much to offer to residents and visitors of all ages, cultures and backgrounds. It is an absolute honour and privilege to represent Milton Keynes in Parliament and I am thrilled to have played my part in securing city status for Milton Keynes.

I enjoyed my visit to Primark at the MK1 Shopping Park to meet with Jake and Annette and to learn more about the store and Primark’s operations. I heard about Primark’s Sustainable Cotton Programme which is hoping to have 100% of the cotton that is in their clothes to be recycled, organic or from their Sustainable Cotton Programme by 2027, they are currently at 33%. This is alongside their aims to increase the number of clothes in their stores made from recycled or sustainably sourced materials from 39% of their products to 100% of their products by 2030. On my visit, I found out that all Primark stores have a clothes bin where you can put clothes that you no longer want or use so that they can be reused, with the clothes in the MK1 Primark donation bin going to UNICEF.

Also, I welcomed the opportunity to visit the newly opened Chaffron Centre at MK College. The Chaffron Centre is home to SkillsHub:MK, an initiative that aims to enhance the strategic partnerships between employers, businesses and post-16 training & education providers, and has been backed by £3.5 million worth of funding from the Government. For more information, you can visit their website here: www.skillshubmk.co.uk

Another visit was to the Milton Keynes Play Association (MKPA) in Kiln Farm. MKPA are a charity that provides play opportunities for children and youngsters as well as providing training such as first aid at their facility. It was an opportunity to learn more about what MKPA do, the services they provide across the city and meet some members of the team. I was taken on a tour around their facility and saw their Hobby & Craft Shop and Scrapstore. Whilst it is open to members of the public to browse, some goods and areas will require you to have a membership to purchase things. To find out more, you can visit their website here: www.mkpa.co.uk

The month of July sees the launch of the MK MP’s Best Café Competition, where me and Ben are looking to find the best destination for a hot drink, a sweet treat and good atmosphere. I am pleased to have multiple cafés across Milton Keynes signed up to compete for the title and I look forward to visiting the ones that have entered in my constituency. Voting opens on the 1st of July and will run until the 2nd of September with a winner announced on the 9th of September. For more information on who is participating and how you can cast your vote, you can visit my website.

As ever, if I or my office can be of any help, please do get in touch with us.