Column by Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie

I had the pleasure of spending some time in Stroud with the new High Sheriff of Gloucestershire - Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller.

He is in office for one year as an unpaid independent, non-political Royal appointment. His focus is on young people, youth crime and supporting the police so we had a lot to talk about, including the RAF as my brother rose through the ranks to become a commissioned officer.

Sir Dusty is a fascinating guy, who speaks with empathy and passion about his work to help young people given his own life experiences. The High Sheriff role dates back to Saxon times but these days supports and encourages crime prevention agencies, the emergency services and the voluntary sector.

I’m looking forward to working with him on Stroud projects.

Out and about in the constituency, I had a meeting in Rodborough with the deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Nick Evans and parish councillor Alick Miskin about 20mph zones.

I do not agree with all areas becoming 20mph, as suggested by Stroud District Council recently, but there are key areas like Rodborough, Slimbridge and Nailsworth that have created strong cases over many years of hard work. I have been advocating for them to be successful at county council level and with the police.

The PCC is also running a campaign called community speed watch - backed by £600,000 of government money - and they hope to have a good take up across Stroud. Please look this up and speak to your parish councils.

I also attended the excellent Stroud Ebike Expo on Sunday hosted at Stroud Brewery.

It was an opportunity for residents to meet the experts and enthusiasts and gain information on the benefits of e-bikes, alongside trial demonstrations.

Stroud has a big bicycle community and I hold quarterly cycling summits, so I was pleased to go and see what was on offer.

A lot of thought was put into the event and it was a great collaboration from the cycling community and local cycling businesses like Access Bike, Ark Cycles, EDEMO Electric Bikes, Cotswold tours, The Bike Works and The Electric Bike Shop. Well done to everyone for a fun and informative event.

On the international stage, the G7 summit in Germany this week is much more than a talking shop this year as the world’s most powerful economies pledge to stick together to tackle Russian aggression in Ukraine.

New sanctions to limit Russia’s ability to import military technologies and a possible price cap on Russian oil exports have already been discussed but the support of more countries than the G7 is needed, including NATO countries and others like Australia and New Zealand.

I am of the view that we must continue to counter Putin’s naked aggression for as long as it takes. We can see it is tough as the world grapples with higher food and energy prices but I agree with the Prime Minister when he says we must have this pain now otherwise it will be worse if Putin wins. There can be no appeasement.