Mail Weekly Column: 17 October 2022
What a week it has been - both in Westminster and here in Barrow & Furness.
On Wednesday, I presented my parliamentary petition to the House of Commons, requesting that DWP look again at their decision to close Phoenix House in Barrow. The staff there have hundreds of years of experience behind them and work with some of the most complex cases of industrial injury and disablement benefits there are. They are true and dedicated specialists, and while there is logic in re-organising back office functions among big departments, losing those skilled people would not be just a blow to the staff there, but also all those suffering as a result of asbestos-related harms in Furness and beyond. Their skills are not easily replicated.
Later in the week, on Saturday afternoon, through passing rain storms and hail, I joined the PCS Union and TUC teams by the Workers’ Statue on Dalton Road to make the case to the public. Sometimes politics means making strange bedfellows, but the important thing for me is to do right by my constituents, and by the people who are so well served by them.
We gained some more signatures for our petition before retiring the soggy paper in the rain. And next week I meet the Minister responsible for a further meeting. The fight continues.
On Friday night I was privileged to join the celebrations at the Dock Museum, commemorating 150 years of Barrow’s Shipyard. It was lovely to catch up with old friends and also to meet so many of the people who have served on the submarines made on Barrow Island. The Shipyard Choir were wonderful to hear, and so were the words of Commander ‘Bing’ Crosby, who will be taking the crew of HMS Anson out of the yard soon: “not enough people in this community realise just how important Barrow is to the UK and the world.” We produce (I am using that word very broadly!) something that keeps the world safe and, in Bing’s words, “stops Putin doing what he wants to be doing.” That is quite a thing, and something we should talk about more and hold our heads high about.
On Thursday afternoon I visited Downing Street with a handful of colleagues to speak to the Prime Minister about the communities we represent. It is fair to say that it is a very rocky time at present and we badly need to return to stability. Jeremy Hunt’s appointment is important and it is very good to see his reassuring presence in No 11. But that was my message to the PM: we need to get calm the markets, get back to delivery, and make sure that we focus on the things we were elected to do. Here that is delivery of the Town Deal, SSNR and AUKUS, rural bus services, improving broadband, and developing the local economy. Those are some of the issues I raised with the PM and her advisors, banging the drum for Furness in Number 10.
