Danny Chambers MP 🔶

Pet flea treatments sold in supermarkets are washing pesticides into Britain's rivers and chalk streams, endangering aquatic life like our Atlantic salmon. The Minister needs to regulate these sales to keep our riverways safe.

Conservatives promised hospitals, but never delivered. Now, the Labour Government has spent millions on a new site where a hospital may never even be built 20 years from now. If we can find the money for that, surely we can find the money to save Winchester's hospital, that needs fixing right now.

Local pharmacies are a brilliant resource that keeps pressure off GPs and allows patients to receive help on the high street. I spoke today in a debate to urge the Government to implement a long-term sustainable funding model for pharmacies so that we can keep our pharmacies open.

A quick reminder that no dog died from missing a walk, but many dogs have died as a result of being exercised in hot weather! I've treated many dogs with heat stroke and it is often fatal. There's loads more useful info on preventing and treating heatstroke at Veterinary Voices UK!

Brexit has cost us billions in lost trade and left us with a stagnant economy. The Conservatives caused this damage. Labour won't fix it. It doesn't matter who the new Labour leader is - if they won't commit to joining a new customs union, they will fail to fix the economy.

£14 saved for every £1 spent! Citizens Advice Winchester and the local NHS mental health ward at Melbury Lodge are working together to provide life admin support for patients, massively reducing readmission rates. I asked Ministers to roll this idea out across the country.

Wes may be gone, but he left us one parting gift: ANOTHER consultation. Children, parents, NHS staff have been saying for years we have a crisis. We do not need more words, we need action.

Organisations like @trinitywinchester.bsky.social and @dogstrust.bsky.social do incredible work to support vulnerable people fleeing domestic abuse day-in, day-out. I urged the House to celebrate their invaluable work to keep people safe and supported.

We don't have time for all this Starmer Drama when bills are soaring and conflicts are raging around the world. We should be focussed on our food, energy and national security.

What do my @libdems.org.uk colleagues do to improve their mental health?

Mental health must be treated with the same seriousness that we treat physical health. That is my message for Mental Health Awareness Week. Follow along throughout the week to find out more about what I've been working on in Winchester and in Parliament to improve the way we treat mental health.

Women and babies are being let down. Over half of maternity units in England do not reach 'good standards' for safety, causing avoidable harm and even deaths. The @libdems.org.uk have a plan to back our #NHS staff and keep new mums and babies safe.

The intelligence of an animal has no effect on its capacity to feel emotion. Like humans, we know animals experience pain, excitement and suffering. I brought this up in a debate on animal testing this week - and urged the Minister to strengthen our commitment to high animal welfare standards.

Conservative-run Hampshire County Council is about to receive an extra £50 million from government to improve bus services. So it's time for them to restore the services they cancelled and keep us all connected.

Not once, not twice, not three times. Four times the Liberal Democrats have voted to ban harmful social media for under 16s. Parents, teachers and children themselves tell me: we do not need a lengthy, bureaucratic consultation. We need action now.

Parents vs multi-billion pound tech companies - is that a fair fight? Here's my clash with Dan Hodges on @lbc.co.uk Cross Questions. We need to ban harmful social media for children, just like we banned smoking.

"Nobody wins unless everybody wins." If a disease with pandemic potential emerges anywhere, it quickly becomes everyone's problem. If crops fail in one part of the world, the consequences are felt globally.

Scrolling is the new smoking. I hear it from parents, teachers, and from children themselves. Big tech companies have created addictive algorithms that monetises attention. We did not expect parents to take on the smoking industry alone, so we cannot abandon them on social media safety either.

After Boris Johnson, many of us expected boring competence from Keir Starmer - no more scandals, no more sleaze. Yet here we are - spending days on the terrible judgement to appoint Mandelson, rather than focussing on tackling the cost of living and helping our struggling healthcare services.

Resident doctors study for years but are often left unable to find a training placement. I urged the government to increase training places and future opportunities for resident doctors, so they have a job for life.

Children and families are being let down by a broken system. They deserve far better and any SEND reforms must keep their best interests at its heart. I urged the Secretary of State for Education to support children with SEND and their families.

Be it maternity services, the difficulty of receiving an endometriosis diagnosis or gynaecology waiting lists, women are being let down. The Women's Health Strategy includes a commitment to ending the medication postcode lottery for hyperemesis gravadarium, a very severe type of morning sickness.

There's a proven link between people deliberately harming animals and going on to commit domestic abuse. Currently the law does not allow us to identify these people early. I brought this up in parliament and introduced a motion asking the government to address this gap in the legislation.

Fed up of potholes? We are too. After 29 years of Conservatives running Hampshire County Council, it is time for a change.

Prices are spiralling in supermarkets, at the petrol station and on our energy meters. The frustration of leaving a supermarket with just one bag for nearly double the price it would have been a couple of years ago is something I hear about a lot on the doorsteps.

Poor mental health could affect anyone. That's why community groups like Winchester Youth Counselling are so important. We teamed up to raise thousands of pounds for their invaluable work recently. Find more here:

🐣 Easter is fast approaching! 🐣 As a vet, I've treated loads of dogs who have got hold of chocolate around this time of year. It's really damaging for their health and can be fatal. Make sure to enjoy your mini eggs and easter treats - but do keep them away from pets! @stevedarlingmp.bsky.social

Mental Health funding for NHS services is being cut. Again. It is time to start treating mental health with the same seriousness that we treat physical health. That is why @libdems.org.uk are calling for the Mental Health Investment Standard. Find my explainer here:

800,000 children under the age of 5 have used social media. That is bonkers. These addictive algorithms pump out violent, harmful and explicit material with seeming impunity. Find more about Liberal Democrat calls here:

This is outrageous in modern Britain. Far too many women are having to fight for years to be listened to when they have endometriosis. No one should have to go through that. We must do all we can to ensure that women receive appropriate support and treatment for endometriosis.

The @libdems.org.uk have been working tirelessly for months with charities to find a robust approach to social media regulation. Our age-rating system, like the ones we use for films and games, would put the onus on social media companies to keep users safe - not on children.

Can you imagine a world without antibiotics? Superbugs developing abroad do not respect borders. Climate change puts healthcare systems under strain, creating the ideal conditions for infection and resistant bacteria. We have to act now to monitor disease to keep superbugs at bay.

Thank you to 500+ people in Winchester who signed my petition to save the Henry Beaufort School bus. Last, I took your voices to Parliament. We are calling on the government to work with Hampshire County Council to protect this vital service between Henry Beaufort School and Kings Worthy.

Heating oil has already doubled in price and could increase further. Ofgem’s price cap does not cover heating oil! - That's a huge problem for rural households. I asked this Government to introduce the same price-cap protections other forms of energy benefit from.

If something is so cruel that we ban it in the UK, we cannot allow imports to become a loophole. We should not offshore animal cruelty. We know that we have robust animal welfare laws but too often imports are still being used to evade our high animal welfare standards.

The Conservatives' Brexit project left us weaker and poorer. If the government is serious about boosting our economy, they should listen to @libdems.org.uk proposals for a bespoke customs union with the largest trading bloc in the world - which is already right on our doorstep.

Juries are a fundamental part of our justice system. Taking a sledgehammer to them will not address the court backlog. Investment in the crumbling buildings or doubling sitting days will ensure that these waiting lists come down so that all victims get their day in court.

AI is changing the job market as we know it. I hear far too often from constituents who are desperate to get on the job ladder, yet do not even hear back when they apply. I asked the Secretary of State to address the impact AI is having on graduate employment.

It is absolutely vital that we protect our democracy from foreign influence - be it through political donations or on social media. Power ought to lie in the hands of the UK public, not foreign states or individuals.

Off-roading in our chalk streams destroys our natural environment and kills wildlife. The Conservative-run Hampshire County Council must listen and take decisive action. I secured a meeting with the Minister to discuss ways to ensure this ecological vandalism is stopped for good.

The big tech companies need to be paying their fair share of taxes so we can properly fund mental health services.

The giant tech and social media companies need to be regulated and held account for the effect they're having on young people's mental health.

Happy World Book Day!📚 Today also marks the beginning of Winchester Book Festival. To celebrate, here are some of my favourite books:

Driving 4x4s up and down our chalk streams puts our local ecosystems at risk. I spoke to ITV this week about this trend of ecological vandalism and how I am calling on Hampshire County Council to take decisive action to protect our chalk streams.

I've been speaking with parents in Winchester about the impact of AI chatbots. Children are writing less because AI "can do it better.” They’re spending more time indoors. They feel less confident. We must regulate AI before it's placed in the hands of children, not after the damage is done.

We cannot allow scrolling to become the new smoking. Social media and AI Chatbots pose a huge public health risk to users, particularly to children who cannot understand that these bots are not real people and therefore cannot care. We need better regulation to keep users safe online.

It's Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Eating disorders are the mental health crisis hiding in plain sight. We must reinstate waiting time targets, protect funding & properly resource a national strategy so that no child or family is left to fight this illness alone. @beatedsupport.bsky.social

There is rightly a lot of discussion on MPs having second jobs, although some may be surprised about my only veterinary work last year at Marwell Zoo - blood testing penguins. Not the most glamorous, but certainly a challenge!

Who do you think should be leading the discussion on the regulation of AI chatbots - Parliament or the Pope? #StoptheBots