I'm writing to you to give you an update on my work as your member of
parliament. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌


[Gareth Thomas MP]

Dear John, I'm writing to give you an update on my work as your Member
of Parliament. As the Covid-19 crisis continues I will continue to
provide regular e-mail updates and if you ever need to get in touch
about the issues covered here – or anything else – please contact
my office on 0207 219 4243 or e-mail me at
[email protected]

COVID-19

The situation is rapidly changing and the response to Coronavirus is
being directed by Government centrally working with Public Health
England, the Government’s advice is available here
[[link removed]]
and Harrow Council have information online about their own response
which reflects the Government's position, which is available here
[[link removed]]
. Cllr Adam Swersky has also outlined the council’s current plan
here
[[link removed]].

In Parliament, I have recently pushed the Government to support every
business so that it doesn't go bankrupt; to support laid off workers
to the tune of 75% of their income and to take action to support the
self-employed. A video of which can be found here
[[link removed]] .

 

Additionally, I have tabled a number of Written Parliamentary
Questions relating to the government’s approach to tacking Covid-19.
These have particular pertinence to areas surrounding support for
tenants, those who require welfare support from the DWP as a result of
self-isolation, rail travel and for provision of local health
services. I will of course update you with responses to these
questions and more via my social media and in upcoming e-mails.

Locally I have been heartened by the variety of recent correspondence
I have received from various groups now organising to help across
Harrow and correspondence from individuals looking to help. A list of
active volunteers will go a long way to help build the resilient
community that will be necessary to help the residents of Harrow
through this outbreak. You will receive an additional Covid-19 e-mail
update from me this week with details of every group organising
locally to help our community across Harrow. Until then, the Voluntary
Action Co-operative have compiled a helpful list of ways that people
can get involved here
[[link removed]].

I appreciate that whilst this outbreak of Covid-19 is currently
dominating a lot of our thoughts, other concerns and problems do not
disappear. However, to help reduce the spread of infection, I am
asking members of the public who need to contact my office to do so by
phone or email rather than in person and further I will now be holding
surgery appointments exclusively by telephone. This is a temporary
measure and a sensible precaution to protect vulnerable
people. Please be assured we continue to offer a full service of
advice and support to members of the public who need it.

If you have any questions on the handling of Coronavirus don’t
hesitate to get in touch.

MOUNT VERNON

After a decade of underinvestment under the Tories, an urgent review
last summer by NHS England found Mount Vernon’s Cancer Centre to be
dilapidated and not fit for purpose. It said there was a need to for
considerable investment in buildings, equipment replacement and I.T.
connectivity. It is not one of the hospitals the Tories have said they
will rebuild and there have been rumours that it will be closed or be
moved to central London.

I called a debate on Mount Vernon’s future recently having tabled a
series of questions to probe what was going on and have launched a
petition to secure the centre's future. you can read the debate here
and if you haven't already done so can sign the petition here.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE SELECT COMMITTEE

I have been re-elected by Labour MPs to serve on the International
Trade Select Committee and I look forward to holding the Government to
account over their negotiations with the EU on our future trade deal,
on plans to do a deal with Donald Trump and other Free Trade
Agreements .

I will be strongly opposing any attempts to reduce worker’s rights,
environmental protections, food standards and any efforts to undermine
our NHS.

WHY LABOUR LOST

It feels like many months ago now, but the British Election Study has
taken a comprehensive look at why people voted the way they did in the
2019 General Election. Amongst a wealth of data three important points
emerge:

• For Labour, the division along Leave vs Remain narratives held
little significance.

• Sadly, the leadership of our party was significant for the voters
we lost between 2017 and 2019.

• There was a geographical split on social values affecting voting
patterns with, perhaps unsurprisingly, younger more socially liberal
voters concentrated in cities leaning one way whilst older, socially
conservative voters predominantly making up electorate in towns and
villages leaning the opposite way. 

How we unite those competing geographical and social values to
re-rebuild and win an election must now be the number one priority of
our next leader.

As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch if I can be of
assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth

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Sent by email from the Labour Party, promoted by Keith Ferry on behalf
of Gareth Thomas, both at 132-134 Blenheim Road, Harrow, HA2 7AA
Website: www.labour.org.uk to join or renew call 0345 092 2299.

                                             
             

The Labour Party, 105 Victoria St Westminster, London, SW1E 6QT, United Kingdom
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