This week in Denton & Reddish

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Dear Constituent,

Welcome to the latest edition of Denton and Reddish Weekly News, I hope you've had a fantastic week.

On Monday, the Government announced a delay to the next stage of lockdown easing. The full relaxation of remaining restrictions is now scheduled for the 19th of July, although a review will take place in two weeks. In the meantime, here are the restrictions as they stand.

Current Lockdown Restrictions

Headlines

Gwynne: statement on the Covid rules extension vote.

Andrew Gwynne, the Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, this week voted against the Government’s extension of the Covid laws.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“We all want Covid behind us and my constituents have largely done the right thing and played by the rules.

The whole purpose of these lockdowns and restrictions has been to ensure our NHS has never been overwhelmed, as we’ve seen in other parts of Europe and the world. And by that measure they’ve been successful.

But the vaccine has been a game-changer in protecting people. That has allowed a bit more normality to return, and that’s greatly welcome. So given that success we need a new approach.

Covid is likely to be with us in one form or another for some time – and possibly, like influenza, forever.

We now need to mitigate and manage Covid, ensuring our vaccines are up to date and effective with new variants. And we need to concentrate testing in hotspot areas with effective test, trace, isolate for households infected, with proper financial support for them to do that. It’s a targeted and more effective approach than a blanket switching off and on whole sectors of the economy."

We are now at a point where thankfully hospitalisations and deaths are low, but there’s another crisis now impacting the NHS, and that’s the backlog of cancelled treatments and operations. It’s time to change approach. Restore freedoms sensibly and carefully, complete the vaccination rollout at speed and tackle Covid in a targeted and sophisticated manner”.

Gwynne backs campaign urging Government to tackle cancer backlog

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has backed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a more urgent response to tackle the Covid induced cancer backlog.

The letter calls for a radical new cancer plan overseen by a dedicated minister and direct investment in cancer services and the necessary lifesaving technologies.

Parliamentarians representing all political parties, including chairs of All-Party Parliamentary Groups, former cabinet ministers and a former cancer minister, have put their name to the letter and backed the calls for urgent action.

Covid has caused widespread disruption of the entire cancer pathway and recent figures show that this has resulted in 40,000 ‘missing’ and undiagnosed cancer patients. Research suggests that for every four weeks delay in cancer treatment, survival drops on average by 10% and frontline clinicians are already reporting that more and more patients are now presenting with late-stage cancers which have passed the point of being cured.

The letter highlights the urgency of the crisis, describing it as “the most serious crisis in cancer in a generation” and calls on the Government to implement the 7 recommendations of the recently published “Catch Up With Cancer: the Way Forward” report led by Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Radiotherapy and the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group.

Andrew Gwynne said:

"The Prime Minister and Government must acknowledge the scale and urgency of the cancer crisis and act fast, or risk tens of thousands of lives being lost.

Covid has caused untold disruption for waiting times and health backlogs, we need to see a radical plan to fix this. These are people’s lives we are talking about, and we simply cannot waste time.

I’m proud to be supporting this campaign, and urge the Government to fix this crisis."

Leading oncologist and co-founder of the #CatchUpWithCancer campaign which supported the report and the letter to the Prime Minister, Professor Pat Price said:

“The Covid induced cancer backlog is the worst crisis in cancer care I have seen in my entire career and the cancer community is desperate for the Government to intervene.

The Prime Minister has said he wants to ‘bust the backlog’ but we have been calling for action for over a year and yet our calls have gone unanswered.

It is encouraging to see solidarity amongst the Parliamentarians and the cancer community who signed this letter who all agree this cancer crisis should be treated as a national priority.”

You can read the full letter here.

Gwynne supports the National School Sport Week

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is supporting the National School Sport Week (NSSW) which will take place this year from 19 – 25 of June.

The NSSW is now in its 13th year and is run by the Youth Sport Trust (YST). During the week, the importance of Physical Education and school sport in enhancing the health and wellbeing of young people is celebrated.

This year, the theme is ‘Together again’ and YST are challenging the nation’s schools, parents and communities to host one of the country’s biggest ever weeks of school sports days or take part in activity at home. This year, the charity has partnered with the Together Coalition.

NSSW is a free and UK-wide campaign which is open to all. After registering via the YST website, participants will have access to lots of resources and tips on how to bring young people together through sports.

Research released by Sport England earlier this year found that fewer than half of children and young people are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day.

The YST is also calling on the Government to commit to extending the Primary PE and Sport Premium for 2021/22. The Premium provides additional funding for primary schools and has improved formative experiences of PE for children in primary schools across the country. The Government have yet to commit to an extension of this premium.

Andrew Gwynne said:

"Leading an active life and taking part in a variety of sports is so important both for the mental and physical wellbeing of young people.

I’m proud to be supporting the Youth Sport Trust in their 31st National School Sport Week, and would encourage constituents and school to take part in any way they can.

I would also call on the Government to commit to extending the Primary PE and Sport Premium, so that primary schools can continue to properly plan and facilitate sport in young people’s education.’

Whether its holding a school sports day or just getting active at home, there are plenty of free resources on the NSSW website."

Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver said:

"There is a crisis of inactivity amongst our young people, and sadly this has only worsened in recent months, with the pandemic making it difficult for children to meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity.

School sport and PE is a fantastic way to get active, have fun with friends and resocalise this summer after such a long time of being apart. Sports days don’t have to be about being the best, strongest or quickest, they are a celebration of bringing us together and learning key skills like communication, empathy, teamwork and resilience."

For more information, or to sign up for National School Sport Week click here.

Read More of This Week's Stories

Andrew in the constituency

CITIZEN’S AWARD - Ryan Bardsley

Today I went to visit St John Fisher RC Primary School & ASD Resource Base Haughton Green with Team Denton South Cllr Claire Reid to present my MP Citizen's Award to PE Teacher, Ryan Bardsley.

Ryan was nominated by a number of people for keeping the children engaged in sports and PE throughout the lockdowns. In the February half term he also organised a Masked Singer competition to keep children entertained during the holidays.

He didn’t know… it was a real-life “This is your life” moment. Well done Mr Bardsley.

A Dino Day Out

So having recced the Dinosaur fair last weekend, we decided to meet my dad and take Lyle on the rides before going out for a lovely family Sunday lunch at the The Post Room in Denton. A really great day out!

The return of Howard's Neighbourhood Bar

Last week Howard’s Neighbourhood Bar in #DestinationDenton reopened - it’s a great local business so please give them your support this weekend!

Right at Home focus on patient-centred care

A big thank you David Meanwell at the Reddish-based Right at Home for showing me around his business last week and telling me more about the home care services they provide across Stockport and beyond.

I am really impressed with their complete focus on patient-centred care. We need much more of this!

PROPOSED PARLIAMENTARY BOUNDARY CHANGES

It was brought to my attention that last week's section of the newsletter that discussed the Boundary Commission's proposed parliamentary boundary changes didn't include an image of the proposed enlarged Stockport Constituency! So that everyone is fully aware of the proposed changes I have included all four images again below.

A reminder, if you want more information on the proposed changes or to make a comment/submission whilst the consultation is underway please click: https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk

Andrew in Parliament

To speak in Parliament at the moment, you have to be successful in various randomly shuffled ballots. Unfortunately, this week luck was not on my side and I wasn't successful in any. Next week I'll be hoping that my luck makes a storming comeback!

Andrew in the media

📺 WATCH: On Wednesday I was invited onto BBC Politics Live, and spoke about a number of issues, including my experience of long Covid and the importance of maintaining British food standards in any international trade deals. See below for a couple of clips, and to watch the full episode click here.

Community Board

Local author Leanne Brown has started writing a fantastic series of books to promote, help and raise awareness for mental health in children. Leanne wants to bring these books to schools, parents and organisations to help promote mental health in children.

You can find out more, including how to buy the books, on her website.

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