Dear Sir,
Just before Christmas I received a leaflet (with my copy of Newton News) from Paul Howell MP, who is supposedly ‘Standing up for Sedgefield’, which prompts the following comments:
It would be interesting to know how much this leaflet, which I presume went to all homes in the Sedgefield Constituency, cost? It is certainly an example of how the Tories, with their wealthy backers, have an unfair advantage over other political parties.
Secondly, given the current situation, I doubt that the picture of Paul with Boris Johnson will have done Paul any favours!
I believe in the principle of Levelling Up, which Paul mentions several times. However, the Tories current funding is totally inadequate, and I doubt that even this will long survive Boris Johnson’s (hopefully) imminent departure, with the majority of Tory MPs opposed to supporting the taxation which will be necessary for a real ‘levelling up’. Moreover, I fear that more austerity is the likely policy of the next Tory Prime Minister.
Finally, he mentions the 98 extra Police Officers, who are indeed good news. However, he fails to mention that far more than this were lost as a result of previous Tory Government’s Austerity cuts.
I have no doubt that Paul, whom I know personally, is trying his best to be a good local MP. However, this is not enough, when your parliamentary votes consistently support a Government of right-wing extremists, whose actions are against the real best interests of most Sedgefield electors.
Alan Jordan, Middridge