Our MP Sally-Ann Hart (SAH) imitates her boss Boris Johnson by throwing out numbers (£170m plus and more), and promising the earth for the vulnerable/families and children in need, so no one shall go hungry or be unhealthy. But she supported the no food vouchers for children in the holidays until there was a government U turn.
I hope that readers of her promises will take a moment to reflect on their truths/facts. The money “flowing” into the borough councils (which have been decimated over the past 10 years so they have had to cut many necessary community services) is presumably to be divided locally to the most needy. SAH does not explain quite how people can access the money or give a link/phone number to get information as to how to access help in general, or locally in her patch.
We don’t hear anything from her opposing contracts of millions which are given to cronies who make profits for their shareholders, like the test/trace issue which is still not “world beating” (My granddaughter waited five days to be told she is positive).
This makes me worried about the roll out of the vaccine, will it be fair and efficient? So far, local GPs in Rye and the Conquest hospital have not had any directives about local inoculation, so what is SAH doing to help her constituents in this case?
Similarly I would like to ask her about the £831m investment which has been promised to about 72 high streets, but funnily enough Hastings and Rother are not amongst the named areas (The Guardian, December 26, 2020).
One bad decision after another
I have not heard Sally-Ann Hart explain to us whether she actually spoke to heads about the school fiasco, concerning the last minute announcement that students in secondary schools will have to be tested for covid from January onwards twice a week, and that they need to be trained and work over Christmas (their well deserved time out) to put a plan together of how they would manage this.
Nor, it seems, are the teachers seen as front line workers who should have the vaccine asap as they deal with hundreds of children coming back from within the community. Why not send in the already trained army (from Liverpool) to help, hopefully in civilian clothes so as not to worry the students.
And, to top it all, civil servants were asked to volunteer with a sugar pill offer of £1,000. There are pages one could write about the ineptness of some of government’s decisions. The continued changes of children going back, or not, in primary schools, for example. Parents are confused.
A chaotic and rushed announcement
Four main teaching unions and the National Governance Association said: “It is the view that due to the chaotic and rushed nature of this announcement, lack of proper guidance and absence (medical) of appropriate support, the government’s plan in its current form will be inoperable for most Schools and Colleges as they simply have not the staffing capacity to carry this out in a safe and effective manner” – though this might have changed again.
[Editor’s note: And, indeed a lot has happened since the writer drafted this article near the end of the old year, and only revised it slightly since – and certainly not since another lockdown began this week with schools closed!]
Sally-Ann Hart, can I ask – Who are you prioritizing – your government? Your job? It certainly does not look like helping the most needy in your constituency. Quoting numbers does not trickle down into the community. We need clarity, at least from our MP, however difficult the times are at the moment.
Image Credits: Pixabay / Holger Langmaier https://pixabay.com/photos/man-mourning-despair-emotion-pain-2734073/ Pixabay Licence https://pixabay.com/service/license/.