Lee Anderson column: Great to see ex-miners of Silverhill will finally get their memorial

Last weekend, I popped into the Rifle Volunteer pub in Skegby to see Aaron Houghton and Eddie Harrison, who were throwing darts to score 100,000 to raise money for Cancer Research.

It was great to see such a fantastic effort being put in for such a good cause.

As a cancer survivor myself, it always means a lot to see fundraising campaigns like this designed to support cancer research, so we can support others from getting this awful disease and suffering from it.

If you would like to donate a few quid to this very worthwhile cause, then you can do so at the following link https://www.justgiving.com/.../aaron-houghton...

I am glad to be able to give an update on the Silverhill Colliery wheels.

Three years ago ex-Silverhill miner Alan Batterham came to see me about raising money to have the old pit wheels renovated and sited at Silverhill Colliery.

After mentioning this to my good friend Craig Gould, he instantly agreed to stump up the money.

Craig has been extraordinarily generous with the contributions he has made to local good causes, and I am very thankful to him for all the support he has given over the years.

“I was disappointed to hear a motion has been put forward in the Commons to remove me from the Home Affairs Select Committee. I have enjoyed my two years on this committee, where I have asked questions to public servants,” says Lee Anderson MP.

The old wheels had been left to rot and rust in our council’s depot. We had the wheels removed and taken away to be restored.

The wheels are ready, and the site is now being prepared to receive the wheels. It took longer than expected due to complications, but the good news is that the ex-miners of Silverhill will finally get their memorial.

I was disappointed to hear a motion has been put forward in the House of Commons to remove me from the Home Affairs Select Committee.

I have enjoyed the two years I have served on this committee, where I have been able to ask some soul-searching questions to public servants who are supposed to be at the top of their game.

I have never held back as these people need to be held to account. I know the Home Office officials did not care for my line of questions and neither did the Met Police.

But this is politics and when the larger parties make a decision to remove a single party member like myself from a committee then there is little I can do.

I would have liked to stay on the committee but with the Home Office once again being put before the committee to be scrutinised, then I am probably the last person they want asking questions in the run-up to the election.

I will continue to speak out from the opposition benches and through the media.