Dear Constituent,

 

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to quash the convictions of 39 former postmasters following the Horizon scandal.

This scandal relates to a faulty computer system called Horizon introduced in the 1990s to process transactions in post offices. The system falsely showed shortfalls and many postmasters were either criminally convicted or forced to pay back thousands of pounds that they did not actually owe.

One of those affected by this scandal was Della Robinson, who was subpostmaster at Dukinfield Post Office. Gwynne has raised this issue repeatedly in Parliament.

Judges ruled today (23rd April) that these 39 wrongful convictions were an “affront to the public conscience”.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“This is a very welcome ruling and I am particularly pleased that my constituent Della Robinson has got some measure of justice.

 

“However, there is still much that needs to be done to end this scandal. As welcome as this ruling is, it doesn’t compensate for so many lives ruined.

 

“The fight for justice in the Horizon scandal goes on, but this is a huge step forward.”

 

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has thanked the charity FareShare for providing 81.1 tonne of food to charities in the constituency.

Over the last year, FareShare Greater Manchester supplied the equivalent of 193145 meals to 7 charities across the Denton and Reddish constituency.

The charity has doubled their operations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and nationally they have been providing the equivalent of 4 meals per second to those in need.

FareShare is a national network of charitable food redistributors, made up of 18 independent organisations. Together, they take good quality surplus food from right across the food industry and get it to almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups.

The charity is currently asking for support from the UK Government to fund their ‘Surplus With Purpose’ scheme to the tune of £5 million per annum, which would both alleviate hunger and tackle climate change.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“The Covid crisis means that it’s been an incredibly difficult year and food poverty has sadly risen.
 

“On behalf of everyone in the Denton and Reddish constituency, I’d like to thank FareShare for their fantastic work in providing so many meals to local people.
 

“I strongly support FareShare’s work and hope that the Government will fund the ‘Surplus With Purpose’ scheme.”

You can find out more about FareShare Greater Manchester on their website.

 

The emerging story of a proposed European Super League, featuring some of the richest football clubs across Europe, has been a huge international story that has dominated both front and back pages. However, for us here in Tameside, it’s also a really important local story as two of the clubs involved are Manchester City and Manchester United.

 

The exact details of the league and the possible consequences for the breakaway clubs – and the game more broadly – are still somewhat unclear. What is clear, though, is that this move has not gone down well. And it’s very understandable why. These proposals aren’t about football as a sport, they’re about football as a business. To put it bluntly, it’s about greed.

 

These teams aren’t necessarily the best clubs in the world – Arsenal are barely in the top half of the Premier League at time of writing – they are getting together because of money. They have large international fanbases and some of the most famous players in the world, so they bring in huge amounts in merchandising and TV rights. They were purchased by their owners as lucrative business opportunities, not as football clubs with histories stretching back generations and deep roots in their communities.

 

Put plainly, from a purely business perspective, their owners can make a lot more from a big game with Barcelona or AC Milan than they can with a mid-week FA cup tie with Burnley or Accrington Stanley. They can sell more tickets and make millions in TV rights. But that’s not what football is about. The joy of football comes partly from the drama and unpredictability of the game. A league where certain teams can never get relegated loses this completely and is instead quite nakedly an attempt to squeeze as much money as possible out of the game.

 

Depending on how the FA, the Premier League, UEFA and others react, this could have huge implications for the game at all levels in England. And it matters for our community right here in Tameside – these are our clubs and these proposals run the risk of pulling apart the sport right down to the grassroots level.

 

As a Man City fan, I am disappointed that they have gone down this road and hope that the owners – and those of the other clubs – reconsider this. Football is about so much more than just the money that can be made, it’s about the love of the game and the special link between the clubs and the communities that founded and nurtured them. The clubs involved in the Super League would do well to remember this.