Dear Sir,
The Newton News rightly offers our new MP, Paul Howell, an opportunity to explain what he is doing to support the Sedgefield constituency. However, what his column usually fails to mention is the way his votes in Parliament support the Government as it enacts typical Conservative policies to the detriment of many of his poorer constituents.
The latest example was his support in defeating the Labour motion calling for an extension of Marcus Rashford’s scheme to feed children, on free school meals, over the school holidays. The Government were, very reluctantly, forced to concede this in the summer, by the weight of public opinion. However, they have now decided they can no longer afford to help poor families who are struggling to cope with the financial consequences of the coronavirus crisis, while they continue to waste billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money on their ineffective ‘Test and Trace’ system. Theresa May once talked of people calling the Conservatives “the nasty Party”; this meanness shows that she was right!
Alan Jordan
