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MY WEEKLY UPDATE

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John,

There has been one story and one name which has dominated the news this
week and has had the whole country talking: Dominic Cummings. It started on
Friday when the Mirror reported that Dominic Cummings had broken lockdown
to travel to Durham to stay on his family’s estate. The government’s
response to these allegations was initially to deny claims and dismiss the
story from “campaigning newspapers”. As reports of further subsequent
sightings of Dominic Cummings in Durham emerged, the government claimed
that the 260 mile trip was ‘essential’ and within the rules.

In his press conference on Monday, the British people were looking for at
least an apology from Dominic Cummings for breaking the lockdown. They got
none. The Prime Minister’s repeated attempts to defend the indefensible
ring hollow with the public and risk undermining life-saving public health
messaging. Instead, the message the public are hearing from this government
is that it's one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for
everybody else.

Like many MPs, the volume of emails I have received on this is like nothing
else I've seen since becoming an MP. The outpouring of grief and dismay I
have read from many constituents really proves how badly the government has
got this wrong, and how they fail to appreciate what the British public has
gone through to make lockdown work.

Since this story broke, more than 100 constituents have written to me so
far with stories about the agonising decisions they have had to make in
order to comply with the guidance. People grieving in isolation, who have
been unable to attend funerals; who have not been able to hold the hands of
their loved ones as they passed away; and the doctors who have had to
deliver that news. Reading these moving stories of personal sacrifice makes
you understand the anger felt by so many, and why they understandly don't
want to just 'move on'.

This week has been a test for Boris Johnson, and it's clear he's failed.

CARE HOME CRISIS CONTINUES

This week Boris Johnson denied that known Covid positive patients, those
with symptoms, and those still awaiting test results, were being moved from
hospitals to care homes.

This runs contrary to the answer I received from the Department of Health
earlier this month on this issue, where I was told that it was only a small
number of people were moved.

It hasn't just been a 'small number' of people with symptoms being
discharged from hospitals and into our care homes. Doctors tell me they're
aware of many cases where Covid-19 patients were sent into care homes and
from care homes who felt pressured to receive them. As I've continued to
raise, these are not exceptions, in fact the government's own guidance to
care homes allowed it, explicitly.

BIRMINGHAM MAIL ARTICLE [4]

CUTS TO COUNCIL COVID FUNDING

New analysis this week revelead that councils in areas of deprivation,
including Birmingham City Council, have been handed a £126m cut overall
after the second payment of emergency funding to fight Covid-19, yet many
have the highest infection rates in the country.

Birmingham is the 6th most deprived local authority in England and faces
escalating costs in fighting Covid-19. Despite this, Birmingham City
Council has been handed a £7m cut in emergency funding which is instead
diverted to richer Tory councils with lower infection rates.

EXPRESS & STAR ARTICLE [5]

PPE CONCERNS OF SIKH FRONTLINE WORKERS 

This week, I wrote to Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to raise the serious
concerns of Sikh frontline workers who have told me that the masks they
have been supplied with do not pass “fit tests”.

No one should be made to choose between breaking their faith and
compromising their safety or commitment to the frontline.

You can read my letter in full by clicking the button below.

LETTER TO MATT HANCOCK [6]

© 2020 Printed from an email sent by Preet Kaur Gill. Promoted by A.J Webb
on behalf of Preet Kaur Gill, both at 56 Wentworth Road, B17 9TA.

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