Dear Constituent,

Welcome to Denton and Reddish Weekly News.
 

I hope that you've had a lovely week. A reminder that on Saturday the Reddish Worker Bee Market returns to Broadstone Mill Car Park. This is always a really great event, and a brilliant way to support local businesses. Scroll down to the Community Board for more info. 

Denton and Reddish continues to stand with the people of Ukraine.

 I’m supporting the British Red Cross's humanitarian effort in Ukraine along with Team Denton South (who set up the gofundme page) and Cllr Allison Gwynne. Please donate if you can to the fundraising page.

We hope that every donation will in some way help the people of Ukraine at this extremely traumatic time.👇
https://www.gofundme.com/.../help-ukraine-wear-yellow-or...

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, joined stars of stage and screen outside Parliament last week in a campaign to ban imports of hunting trophies.

Joanna Lumley and Downton Abbey star Peter Egan were among those to express their support for Gwynne and the ‘Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting’.

British trophy hunters shoot hundreds of endangered animals each year, including lions, elephants, giraffes and polar bears. The law currently allows British trophy hunters to bring their ‘trophies’ – including animals’ heads and bodies – back into the country to display in their homes.

Opinion polls show that almost 9 in 10 voters support a full ban on the practise.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“I am really proud to be supporting this campaign.

Trophy hunting is a cruel and barbaric practise and has absolutely no place in 21st century Britain.

Innocent animals are being killed, while the Government continues to dither and delay. We need a total ban and we need it now.”

Joanna Lumley said:

“Andrew Gwynne is representing the 9 in 10 voters who want to see an end to this barbaric, cruel industry. It should have been abolished long ago. What sort of world do we live in where

endangered animals can be killed for thrills by British trophy hunters? It is the height of cowardice. Andrew has my full support for this campaign.”

Peter Egan added:

“I applaud Andrew’s courageous campaign. The American gun lobby is fighting efforts to ban this evil ‘sport’ because it says hunters’ ‘rights’ should be protected. But what about the innocent, defenceless animals that are killed by British trophy hunters every year just for kicks? Andrew is absolutely right to stand up to the industry lobbyists and to speak up for voiceless animals.

Last Thursday P&O Ferries – the multinational shipping company based here in Britain – made the decision to sack all its British seafaring staff with immediate effect.

800 workers were told via Zoom that their employment was being terminated, and that they would be replaced by cheaper agency workers. After Unions acted, and many who were fired refused to leave their ships, security guards with balaclavas and handcuffs began to forcibly remove staff, some of whom had been employed by P&O Ferries for more than 30 years.

It is hard to articulate just how angry this story makes me. It is one of the most shameful episodes of corporate bullying I have ever seen in all my years as a Member of Parliament. What is even more infuriating, is that it has now transpired that the Government knew in advance that P&O Ferries were planning to take this action but did absolutely nothing to prevent the sackings or protect workers. Instead, they sat back and watched as P&O Ferries snatched jobs from workers who had kept us fuelled and fed during the pandemic.

Under UK law, employers planning to make 20 or more staff redundant within any 90-day period, must first consult staff and speak to trade union representatives. P&O Ferries apparently decided to ignore this aspect of the law, and instead decided to sack employees on the spot.

Unions and workers are now taking a stand against the actions of P&O Ferries, something that I wholeheartedly support. On Monday, Labour forced an emergency vote on worker’s rights. It called on the Government to outlaw the disgraceful practise of Fire and Rehire and suspend its contracts with P&O Ferries’ owners until the matter is resolved.

The Conservatives opted to abstain in a vote on these tough measures, in a bitterly disappointing decision that sends the wrong message to hard working people across the country. People in Tameside - and indeed people right across the country - deserve to be represented by a Government that is committed to upholding, enforcing, and strengthening our labour laws.

Here in Greater Manchester, workers have fought for decades for better employment protections and stronger labour laws. To have the Government turn a blind eye to such an obvious attack on workers is beyond insulting, and sets a very worrying precedent.

We need to send a message that these kinds of callous and disgraceful employment practises will not be tolerated in 21st Century Britain.

 WATCH: It’s Department of Work and Pensions Questions this afternoon. There’s a question on tackling deprivation through benefits policy. I ask what then went wrong between 2010 and now with the explosion of Foodbank use.

 WATCH: Labour has secured an emergency debate on P&O. We want firm action against parent company DP World, including terminating government contracts and seeking repayment of the £38m of taxpayer funding they’ve had. I make the point if they don’t act on P&O, there’ll be more of this. 

I then try to make a point to the Secretary of State about protecting the British workforce and interests more generally. He seems to think it can all be solved by changing the names of P&O ships! He does have form on changing names I guess...

 WATCH: We have a further Urgent Question on the Post Office Horizon Scandal. I’m pleased the Government is now outlining the compensation to the 555 Group of sub-postmasters which is a huge step forward. However only 72 of those 736 wrongly convicted have had their convictions quashed. It’s time for full justice. 

 WATCH: At Culture, Media and Sport Questions, I come in on a question about regional museums… but let’s not forget the value of local museums like Portland Basin and Hat Works Museum. There’s been a 27% cut in spending on local museums since 2010. We must do better to continue telling our local stories.

 WATCH: At Business Questions I point out the waste and fraud in the public finances after £4.3 bn of fraudulent COVID grants were written off and almost £9 bn of unusable PPE was incinerated. I also point out that tax will be at the highest level in modern times after yesterdays announcements. The Leader proves the “lies, damned lies and statistics” line.

A BIG thank you to Dane Bank Green Space for inviting me and the councillors to plant trees around their ‘Forest School’ area on Saturday. The trees were donated by City of Trees.

This a brilliant group of residents who are committed to improving the open space off Windsor Road over in the west-end of Denton. They’ve some amazing plans for developing the site for nature.

A BIG shout out to Steve Marsland and the pupils of Russell Scott Primary School for all your campaigning to help save the Tame Valley from the Bredbury Parkway development.
This lovely “Thank You” video is much appreciated… the future is yours!

 

READ: On Wednesday, I met with some #WASPI women outside Parliament. It’s heartbreaking that a further 220,000 women have died before this matter has been settled. That’s the urgency here.

Thanks to the Daily Express for continuing to cover their cause, with a quote from me as co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group. Read the full story here.