Letter from Parliament

The big news in Rochdale last week was of course that A&E is downgraded to an urgent care centre. This is a real blow to everyone who’s been campaigning so hard to keep our local health services including Carol Ashworth-Lord, Councillor Jean Ashworth, Angela Slater, Father Nearey, Councillor Jane Garside and the rest of the Friends of our Hospital Team.

Last week’s decision also made the national news when the press got hold of some leaked emails. They appeared to show the Secretary of State for Health had been provided with “heat maps” of Britain showing where her political party would be most affected by closing local hospitals just when the decisions were being made.

Why is this important? Because if the allegations are true it would mean that the Government was making life and death judgments based on what they can get out of it, not on what the country needs.

If national news headlines were correct, members of the Government would, of course, have acted against the Ministerial Code of Conduct. This states that ministers must be objective, selfless and honest. They may also have broken the law. I have written to the sleaze watchdog on this, and I will get to the bottom of these allegations and have reported it to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

In a survey revealed last week, less than a quarter of people trust Ministers. But it is essential that we are able to believe in the people who are leading our country, and taking these hugely important decisions that affect all our lives so profoundly.

I think that we are grown up enough and sensible enough in Rochdale to understand that we can’t everything we want, and that sometimes we might have to lose some benefits to gain others. We know that the NHS is far from perfect, and that it needs serious change if it is going to be fit for purpose in the 21st century.

But here in Rochdale we also know where our priorities lie – keeping our NHS services working well for the people of Rochdale.
 
It is also important that services must be led by demand.  It is a fact that the area where Rochdale Infirmary is based has one of the worst mortality rates in the country.

Rochdale has been united on this. We know what’s best for us. So far we’ve been ignored, but the fight will continue.

This week I have been at the Party Conference in Brighton, as an MP this is a really busy time.  I have made sure that I do things for Rochdale, including speaking at meetings on buses and trams, speaking up for our health services, climate change and our role in it and many more.  It has been good to spend time with our Council Leader Alan Taylor and his partner Vivien Coburn, who used to do an excellent job as Sir Cyril Smith’s Secretary.
 
By the time you read this, the Rochdale Peace Day will have taken place – another Rochdale first.  Well done to John Farrington who has spent many hours co-coordinating the event.  I know that Councillor Jean Hornby, the Mayor looked forward to the event and will enjoy leading the parade of Rochdale Schoolchildren.  

On Saturday we planted a Field of Hope for the Marie Curie Cancer Charity in Littleborough at the old gas work’s site opposite Harehill Park.  Charity organiser Vivian Dale did a brilliant job helping organise the event.  There’s a Book of Remembrance in Littleborough Coach House if you’d like to remember a loved one.  For a donation their name will be entered in the book.  Please help support this worthwhile charity and spruce up Littleborough at the same time.