Dear Constituent,

A warm welcome to this week's edition of the Denton and Reddish Weekly News.

As some of you may already know, on Saturday my Dad, John Gwynne, passed away after an 18 month battle with cancer. It's been a very difficult week, but I've been so touched by all the messages of support that people have sent me, and all the tributes to my wonderful father. I've included funeral arrangements below for anyone who wishes to attend.

I'll be taking some time away from Westminster, so this week's newsletter may look a little different. However, there's still lots of community events to update you on across Denton and Reddish, and my office remains open for any casework.

A reminder too that on Monday and Tuesday of next week, the Met Office has issued a Red warning of extreme heat across many parts of the country. So make sure you keep safe and take precautions in this unprecedented heatwave.

The funeral arrangements for John Gwynne are now made: The service will be at Christ Church, Denton on Friday 22nd July at 10am.

It will be followed by a short family-only graveside service at Denton Cemetery. All friends are welcome to join us all afterwards at Denton Cricket Club.

People are welcome and encouraged to wear their sporting colours (even Manchester United!)

Family flowers only. We would ask for donations to be made to Macmillan Cancer Support, Willow Wood Hospice and The Christie charity. A JustGiving page will be set up soon.

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has slammed the Tory Government for failing to tackle waiting lists after new figures highlighted shocking waiting times across Stockport and Tameside.

Figures from the NHS show that over 20,000 people are waiting for NHS treatment at Tameside and Glossop Trust, and over 41,000 in Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. Across the two regions, more than 4,200 people have been waiting more than a year.

At the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, following a decade of Tory mismanagement there were 4.4 million people on the NHS waiting list in England, then a record high. Nationally, the standard of 92% of people seen within 18 weeks of a referral has not been met since 2016. Now, 1 in every 9 people in England are on the NHS waiting list.

The NHS went into the latest wave of Covid infections with the longest waiting list ever, understaffed and overstretched.

The Conservative Government published its elective care recovery plan for the NHS this week but failed to set out how it would address the workforce shortages the NHS is facing. The plan set the Government’s ambition as beginning to reduce waiting lists in 2024.

Andrew Gwynne, who is also Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minister, said:

“These figures show that people across Tameside and Stockport are waiting for care, and they are waiting longer than ever before.

Let’s be clear, NHS staff in Tameside and Stockport have worked heroically throughout the pandemic, but they are stretched and unsupported because of choices made by this Conservative Government.

Our NHS is in desperate need of a Government that values the NHS and its staff, and will tackle these soaring waiting times.

Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, added:

“One in every nine people is now waiting for NHS care, and they are waiting longer than ever before.

“Hundreds of thousands of patients have now been waiting for care through three Conservative Health Secretaries. The only discussion of the NHS in the Conservative leadership election seems to be about how much they plan to cut it by. We may have a new Prime Minister in two months’ time, but only a Labour government will give Britain the fresh start it needs.

“Labour will rebuild our NHS with the staff, equipment and modern technology needed to treat patients on time again.”

As many of you will know, I wasn’t able to head down to Westminster last week as I was caring for my Dad.

At my home in Denton, I watched – as I’m sure many people did – the chaos in Westminster unfold with my jaw on the floor. The whole week was pretty surreal, so it’s worth taking a step back to unpick what exactly happened.

After it was revealed that the Prime Minister did in fact know about allegations involving the Conservative MP Chris Pincher before promoting him, he lost the support of his Cabinet. Last Tuesday, the Chancellor and Health Secretary quit within minutes of each other, and it seemed obvious to all that the Prime Minister would now be forced to resign.

Obvious to all except the Prime Minister, that is. Instead, he attempted to cling on. When he finally resigned on Thursday, over a third of the Government had quit in protest.

It’s easy to get caught up in the political intrigue of the past week, but what’s been overlooked is the impact that this chaos has had on the business of Government. When staff in my Westminster Office came into work on Thursday morning, there was not a single Minister from the House of Commons left in the Department for Education. The Government was scrambling to cancel important debates and pieces of legislation because there simply wasn’t anyone left in Government to do it. Everything ground to a halt, all because one man couldn’t accept that the jig was up.

It’s hard to sum up how angry this all made me. We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. People in Tameside are struggling to put food on the table, and instead of doing something about it the Government dropped its responsibilities and has now left the country in limbo.

Now that the Prime Minister has resigned, we’ll hear a lot of Tories trying to distance themselves from him. They can’t be allowed to do that. Tory MPs supported the Prime Minister when he tried to protect Owen Patterson after he was found guilty of paid lobbying, they supported him when he stood up in Parliament and said that ‘guidance was followed at all times’ and no parties occurred in Number 10.

They are just as responsible for the failings of the Johnson administration as the man himself, and are just as responsible for the 12 years of Tory Government that has seen living standards drop and wages stagnate.

It’s all so frustrating because I know that the Labour Party stands ready and waiting to provide stable and transformational Government. People are crying out for change, and it’s time they got it.

READ: Thanks to the Independent for covering my thoughts on the worrying story of a 'Wild West' industry of Long Covid treatment.

2 Million people are living with Long Covid and are desperate for help. The Government must get a grip and ensure access to timely and evidence-based care. 

Read the full article here.👈

From Lancashire Cricket Club, to Sky Sports, to the Speaker of the House of Commons, I've been overwhelmed by the many tributes to my Dad. It has meant so much to me and my family. Thank you.

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