Parliament may have been in recess for the last few weeks, my and my team have been working from home but that doesn’t mean we’ve not been doing anything. In fact we’ve been busier than usual with the sheer amount of casework that has been generated due to Covid-19.
One of the most concerning developments has been that a number of constituents are stuck abroad and the Foreign Office seems to have been complacent in it’s approach to providing repatriation flights and doing their utmost to get Brits stuck abroad back home to Oldham.
I’ve been in constant communication with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over the last few weeks raising the cases of constituents stuck in Australia, Bali, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, it’s been a real challenge to get some accurate information out of the Foreign Office about what help is available for Brits stranded abroad.
For the last few weeks my office has had emails from constituents stuck all over the world, I can only imagine how distressing and unsettling it must be to feel trapped in the midst of a global pandemic. There’s been cases of families stuck with young children who are genuinely terrified about this situation, we’ve had backpackers having to cancel entire legs of their trips and we’ve had people who have almost run out of money in trying to get home.
We’ve seen some progress and we’ve had confirmation that people are now starting to be returned home, and I’m really grateful for the help that the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s office have offered in this regard.
They’ve been committed throughout to making sure that Greater Mancunians, especially families with young kids, get home as soon as possible. The Foreign Secretary and the Foreign Office need to be more proactive in ensuring they are doing their bit and chartering flights to bring these people home as soon as possible ⤵️
Jim McMahon OBE MP 