Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) and Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) are set to hold a webinar for businesses based in Oldham and Saddleworth on Friday 1st May. Over the last few weeks the two MPs Offices have been inundated with businesses seeking support, so in combination with the Business Growth Hub the two MPs are coming together to answer queries that business leaders across the borough still have.
The pair will be joined by Phil Hargreaves and Darren Flannery, Head of Access to Finance and Oldham Account Manager at the Business Growth Hub respectively – who are tasked with helping local companies access funding and support schemes at this difficult time, and John Townsend – Chartered Accountant and Managing Partner of Brandsons Accountants, who is usually providing those in the public and private sector with expert advice and guidance.
To ensure the event runs smoothly they are asking those who wish to participate to RSVP by 12pm on Tuesday 28th April and to include any specific questions you may have to make sure we can provide the best possible answers. To RSVP please email jack.bailey@parliament.uk by the deadline.
We’re now in the middle of what has been an extended lockdown, it’s covered Easter, it’s covered the school half-term and I know it’s been extremely difficult for many people.
Today we celebrate St. George’s Day, the Patron Saint of England and of course very a important day in the Christian calendar and I think the one thing that really stands out about this green and pleasant land are the people who live here.
The very people have been working on the frontline putting their own lives at risk quite often to make sure that we are cared for, that our country, our nation can continue to continue.
We know that this will be very difficult too for our Muslim friends, who will be opening Ramadan when they used to be in contact within the Mosque, within their community, seeing close family and this will be a change for them too, and they’ve adapted fantastically well.
We don’t know how long it’s going to go on for, thankfully it appears as though the line is beginning to flatten. And although that represents a huge number of fatalities still, it’s hopeful maybe that we are getting to the point where we can stabilise it, but that also means that we all have to do our bit, and play our part and that means that none of us despite the temptation, despite the frustration and the loneliness sometimes of being in self-isolation, to break the social distancing rules that have been set out because it’s through those rules and us all making sure that we look after ourselves and one another that we stop the spread of the virus.
And if we do that and we’re all playing our part it means that that the economy has the best possible chance of being able to recover after the lockdown has ended, but also that we don’t get a second or third burst of the virus outbreak as well.
So let’s all play our part, lets celebrate today if you’re celebrating St. George’s Day or if you’re opening Ramadan today or if you’re just wanting to celebrate the fact that even in very difficult circumstances our country is showing the very best of itself, where people are coming forward in frontline services and through volunteering.
And finally for me, I just want to say thank you to my office staff, the people in the background who you probably don’t often see, are the people who are working really hard like many frontline workers to make sure the people get the support and advice and guidance that they need in what has been extremely stressful circumstances for many people in Oldham West and Royton so to them thank you. To our frontline workers thank you so much for all you’re doing to keep our country going in difficult circumstances, and we can all play a part in making sure that would beat the virus together.
We were told to do what was needed to tackle #Covid_19, so we have. We expected to be reimbursed these costs but Government's language has changed, throwing this in to doubt.
Oldham West and Royton’s Jim McMahon MP has given his support to a letter Oldham Council Leader Cllr Sean Fielding has sent to the Prime Minister. The letter comes after the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick seemed to walk back on his earlier comments that councils should spend whatever was needed and seemed to raised the issue of councils “burden sharing”.
“Originally the message from central government was to do what was necessary to keep residents safe and healthy, and it’s obvious that Oldham Council and others across the country would do that. They needed to do whatever it took to fight this virus, and now to be told that the money might not be coming would be disastrous for Councils.”
“It’s time for central government to honour the commitment councils took in good faith at the time of a national crisis. They are on the front line of this crisis, providing key public services across the board and doing their best to protect their residents.”
“Oldham Council’s budget has already been massively depleted since 2010, it’ll be impossible for them to carry on as is if they’re not reimbursed for the money they have to spend on the coronavirus crisis.”
I’ve been concerned that thousands of children could miss out on this scheme because they don’t have a qualifying chain supermarket nearby.
Smaller retail shops like, the Co-op or local convenience stores, are a lifeline to so many families across the country and it feels like a monumental mistake to leave them out of this scheme. The Co-op exists to do social good, in our country’s hour of need we should be utilising all of the tools at our disposal to help those in need. And not including discount stores like Aldi and Lidl, where so many people now do their regular family shop is beggars’ belief.
It’s unreasonable to expect families to make multiple trips to multiple different supermarkets in order to do their regular shop and then to redeem the FSM vouchers, when government is telling us to leave the house as little as possible.
I’ve been liaising with the Department for Education about the hole in their scheme since it was announced, and it looks like there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel.
Last week I was informed that the DfE are close to coming to an arrangement to expand the scheme, so it should not be long before this mistake has been rectified.
Since I posted this on Facebook I’ve had a number of constituents come to me expressing concerns that they cannot get access to the Edenred website and that there are issues with generating codes for the vouchers, this is deeply worrying – especially after the website went down for a few days at the start of last week. If you’ve been affected by this please do not hesitate to let me know.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep banging this drum, we take our social care workers for granted. And right now we can’t afford to be doing that. We need to make sure that Covid-19 doesn’t spread like wildfire in care homes.
The easiest way to do that is to make sure those working in these settings have the proper personal protective equipment to make sure they protect themselves and they protect the vulnerable people they’re providing much needed care for.
Our care workers need to feel safe whilst they’re providing this vital public service, so they should be provided with the very best equipment. In the end we’ll all benefit from the extra precaution, so it makes sense to do everything we can to stop the spread.
I’ve raised the issue of PPE in care-homes a number of times over the last week in discussions with local and regional leaders, I’m grateful for the work that’s being done on the ground but I remain concerned by reports that deliveries arriving are just a tenth of what’s needed.
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 ⤵️
It’s really important that employers act responsibly and keep their workers and their families safe at the moment.
The video below is my reponse to this story that aired on Granada Reports tonight, for every brave worker like Joe who speaks out there are ten more who are experiencing the same worries.
Over the last few weeks I’ve had hundreds of people working in warehouses come to me concerned about still having to go to work in potentially unsafe conditions. Since then we have recieved assurances from the relevant employers that they are putting in place (or already have in some cases) measures to keep their workforce safe and healthy.
If you’re a constituent and that’s not your experience please let me know (jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk) and we’ll work to make sure the right thing is done.
You may have seen the news already, but I’m both delighted and humbled to join the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and thankful to Keir for the opportunity.
Transport is critical to our economy and society, for both to succeed we must plan well in advance. As much as the big-ticket schemes are important, we must not lose sight of the day to day concerns of millions; the quality of their local public transport services. I look forward to supporting important key infrastructure projects which place us well in the long term, but also to consider how every village, town and city is served too.
This is an exciting time to serve our movement, I can’t wait to get started with Labour’s transport team and build upon the work of my predecessor Andy McDonald.
I’ve loved my time as a Shadow Minister for Local Government, and I’d like to thank all those I worked with in the Shadow Communities and Local Government team for their fantastic work, especially my former bosses Andrew Gwynne and Teresa Pearce.
In other exciting news, I’m really pleased to be joining the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee as one of three Shadow Cabinet appointments, alongside Jo Stevens and Jonathan Reynolds. It’s already bringing back memories from my days as a Councillor sitting on the NEC.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 