People across the country suffered while the PM partied

Navendu Mishra MP at the National Covid Memorial Wall.

The news that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have both been issued fines for attending a rule-breaking party is shocking. Allegedly, the Prime Minister’s personal view remains that the fine was too heavy-handed. Yet, he seems to forget that whilst he was drinking in Downing Street, people across this country went without seeing loved ones for months. He really should have more shame.

As of 1st April, in England, free lateral flow testing (LFT) has come to an end for most groups. This is despite the fact that in January, we saw a spike in covid-19 cases for factory workers and in April, we have seen the same for office workers. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has called for free or discounted LFTs to be provided to businesses. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has been campaigning for an increase in Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), alongside the abolition of the earnings threshold to extend the coverage to almost 2 million workers. In the UK, we have one of the lowest rates of SSP across Europe. I support the TUC in its campaign to extend and increase SSP, and agree with the BCC that free LFTs should be available.

I recently met with Christine at the Stockport Talking Newspaper for an interview. The Talking Newspaper is based out of Walthew House and provides an audio recording of local news to visually impaired people. It is an outstanding initiative and I am very grateful to all the volunteers who keep this lifeline service going for over 150 visually impaired people in our borough.

My office deals with a range of issues, including liaising with Government Departments and other bodies to help people with their enquiries on housing, immigration and more. If you have an issue that you wish to raise with me, please contact me on navendu.mishra.mp@parliament.uk and I will do my best to help.