It was an honour to join the Armed Forces Day celebrations in Stowmarket and to thank everyone serving in our Armed Forces, our veterans, reservists, cadets, military families and emergency services. Armed Forces Day is an important opportunity to recognise those currently serving, those who have served in the past and the families who support them.

Suffolk has a proud military history. With 3,500 people from Suffolk currently serving in our Armed Forces and more than 30,000 veterans living in our county, their service, sacrifice and dedication deserve our deepest gratitude.

Spam, jam, semolina, pizza and pie – we all have memories, some fonder than others, of our school dinners. But behind the nostalgia there is also a serious story about child poverty, public health and making sure every child has the chance to thrive.

The Food Museum in Stowmarket is currently showing a fascinating *School Dinners* exhibition exploring the history of school meals and what they tell us about our society. It is well worth a visit.

I’m proud that one of the achievements of this Government has been the expansion of free school meals, helping more children to get the support they need to flourish.

Despite the soaring temperatures on the hottest day of the year, we held a successful and well-attended Water Action Day at Abbeygate Sixth Form College with local residents, students, environmental campaigners, charities and other stakeholders. I was delighted to welcome Ash Smith as one of our panellists, whose tireless work to protect our rivers inspired the recent Channel 4 docudrama
*Dirty Business*.

Ash spoke powerfully about the failures of the current privatised water model, which is not working for consumers, public health, wildlife or water quality. He pointed to Thames Water as an example of a company where, since privatisation, shareholders have taken more out than they have put in.

I share Ash’s view that we need a different approach to water ownership – one that delivers the investment our infrastructure urgently needs, protects our rivers and chalk streams, and offers better value for billpayers.

Water Action Day was just one part of my wider campaign to clean up and protect our rivers and chalk streams. As well as securing a parliamentary debate on the issue, I am also working across party lines to establish an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Chalk Streams so that we can make meaningful progress in restoring one of our most precious natural resources.