Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, Luke held monthly roundtables called ‘Pastries & Politics’ on a range of topics, including cycling, tourism, homelessness and mental health. In a bid to ensure that important topics do not get side-lined as a result of the pandemic, Luke has started holding monthly virtual roundtables – remotely bringing together interested stakeholders to discuss, debate and share ideas, as well as find out how he can help through his work in Parliament.

Last month’s topic was Dance (you can read more about this here), and Luke is now looking forward to his next ‘Lunch with Luke’, which will be on the subject of ‘Bees and Nature-Led Recovery’.

As Shadow Environment Secretary, Luke is passionate about protecting habitats and wildlife, and ensuring we maintain high environmental standards as the UK leaves the EU. Luke has also been a supporter of the Save the Bees campaign and in the last Parliament was a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bees and Pollinators. This group aimed to inform other parliamentarians about bees, other pollinators and beekeeping and to campaign and raise awareness of impacted issues. Luke is aware of the importance of bees to our environment, and as such is keen to discuss the issue with those in Plymouth who do important work with both bees, and nature-led recovery in general.

The roundtable will be held on 25 September from 12-1pm. If you feel you have something important to contribute and would be interested in joining the conversation, please contact luke.pollard.mp@parliament.uk to be sent an invitation.