Dear Constituent,
It's been a very busy week - here's your latest Denton and Reddish Weekly News.
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Keep calm and look out for each other
As I’m sure you will have heard by now, the first case of Coronavirus was identified in Tameside at the weekend. Whilst this will be concerning to some, it is to be reiterated that the overall risk to the general public remains low. I want residents in Tameside to feel reassured that measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of the virus where possible.
Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is an infectious disease which is currently experiencing a global outbreak. It is particularly problematic in areas of China, Iran and Italy, and many countries are now reporting cases. Here in the UK, the number of reported cases is rising every day.
Fortunately, the vast majority of people who catch the virus will only ever suffer from a mild-to-moderate illness with similar symptoms to the flu. But it is older people and those with pre-existing health conditions to whom the risks associated with contracting Coronavirus are greater.
Understandably concern is widespread. There have been reports of people buying essential hygiene products such as hand sanitiser, soap and toilet paper off the shelves, in some cases leading to price increases.
Panic is understandable in the face of the unknown. But please be assured that stockpiling is unnecessary and maybe even counterproductive. After all, it’s great if you can keep your hands clean, but what about the people who now can’t because you bought the last bar of soap?
The British Retail Consortium have advised against stockpiling, especially food items. They are working hard to ensure that supply chains are maintained during the Coronavirus outbreak, meaning that people have no need to worry about item shortages if stockpiling ceases.
We could all do with taking a leaf out of Jurgen Klopp’s book right now. The Liverpool manager said that when it comes to the virus, we need to listen to the experts. Not football managers, not famous people and certainly not those with no knowledge of the Coronavirus.
Public Health England have said that the best way you can keep yourself, your loved ones and everyone else around you safe is to frequently wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. And of course, maintenance of good general hygiene is encouraged.
Whilst it’s unclear how things are going to develop over the coming weeks and months, or the impact it could have on our freedoms, our economy or on our public services. I encourage calm. Many of us are going to be absolutely fine even under the Government’s worst-case scenario. I would, however, urge that we take care of our community’s oldest and most vulnerable; something that’s not a bad habit to get into anyway.
Here is the official advice from the NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
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Gwynne welcomes proposals for improved local bus services
Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has welcomed Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)’s proposals for the use of new funding for bus services in Greater Manchester.
In February, the Department for Transport announced details and guidance on £220 million of new funding for bus services.
Greater Manchester has been allocated up to £1,589,849 from this fund – the largest amount in the country.
In partnership with, and on behalf of, Greater Manchester’s local authorities, TfGM is responsible for developing and submitting a statement of intent to secure funding.
Upgrades in the Denton and Reddish constituency include a proposal to make the 201 service to Manchester, which runs through Denton, a 24 hour service.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“Buses are a vital part of our public transport system and many of my constituents rely on them for both work and leisure. Improving bus services is therefore something that I’m very passionate about.
“I welcome TfGM’s proposals for this funding as they stand and will continue to make the argument for improving bus services across Denton and Reddish.
“This includes pushing for more routes servicing Reddish and the retention of the 335 linking Denton and Dukinfield.”
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Gwynne responds to Budget 2020
Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has responded to the Budget announced on Wednesday.
The Budget is the first to be presented by the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. Sunak became Chancellor just last month after his predecessor, Sajid Javid, resigned after being asked to fire all of his advisors.
The Budget comes as the United Kingdom faces the spread of the Coronavirus, which is predicted to cause major issues with the UK economy.
Today the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also announced that GDP (Gross Domestic Product) remained level in the three months to January 2020, following no growth in Quarter 4 (October to December) 2019.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“This Budget is a mixed bag. I welcome measures to help small businesses, particularly at a time that they are facing economic uncertainty as a result of Coronavirus. I myself have been pushing for many of these things on behalf of local businesses in the constituency.
“I also welcome promises on future infrastructure, but I think it’s important to see the detail on allocations before getting too excited.
“It is very disappointing that after ten years of cuts to local public services in Tameside and Stockport, there’s nothing extra for our councils beyond a pot hole fund, and that there’s nothing to help either social care or children’s services, which are in crisis. Similarly, there is no support for 1950s women or pensioners more generally.
“Overall, the Budget is unfortunately too little too late in many areas after a decade of cuts and declining public services. Whilst the amounts being spent are large, these measures will do relatively little to reverse the consequences of a decade of decline.”
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Andrew in the Constituency
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On Saturday, I had a brilliant evening at the Denton and Reddish Labour Party Quiz. Thanks to everyone involved in organising and to everyone who came along and had fun.
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📺 WATCH: In this week’s episode of Gwynneside Parliament, I discuss the Budget, International Women’s Day, Science Week celebrations, and ovarian cancer awareness.
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This week I made slime with the Royal Chemistry Society to celebrate Science Week. The experiments were great fun and simple enough that they can be tried at home and in schools.
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It was ‘super’ to attend the Teal Heroes event for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month with the Ovarian Cancer APPG.
Many women don’t know the symptoms of ovarian cancer. We need to raise awareness to achieve earlier diagnoses and save lives.
As many of you will know, this issue is very close to my heart.
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Shockingly, 400 shopworkers are assaulted every day in the UK. This needs to stop and that's why I was proud to join Usdaw, the British Retail Consortium, NFRN - The Federation of Independent Retailers and the Association of Convenience Stores in Parliament this week to support their campaign to bring this to an end.
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📺 WATCH: My visit last week to Ironbridge in Shropshire to see the flooding damage was also covered by ITV Central News - the ITV regional news for the Midlands.
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