Rising prices, greatly exacerbated by Putin’s barbarism in the Ukraine, are top of the political agenda at the moment. Central Bedfordshire Council have already helped 9,000 vulnerable households including providing over 12,000 food vouchers. A further £1.5 million has been provided by the government to the council to help pensioners and anyone else who is having difficulty paying utility and food bills. A reduction in National insurance for 70% of the population comes in July and I continue to lobby the government to make sure that we do everything necessary to look after people in need.
Talking of Putin, I was one of only 287 MPs and the only Bedfordshire MP to be sanctioned by Putin, for calling out General Mikhail Mizintsev’s brutality in his destruction of Mariupol, something he also did in Aleppo. I view the sanction as a badge of honour, and the UK must continue to support Ukraine.
I also noted the World Health Organisation analysis last week which shows that the UK had less excess deaths per 100,000 population, as a result of the pandemic, than was the case in Spain, Germany, Italy, and the United States. Every death is of course a tragedy and I wish we could have prevented every single one and I, like many others, lost someone I was extremely close to.
I had the pleasure of visiting Leighton Road Surgery last week and learned that with a slightly smaller number of patients they continue to get 1,000 more telephone calls a month than before the pandemic. They do expect this to fall as the backlog of people who stayed away from the surgery during the pandemic starts to decrease. I was also very pleased to learn that they have committed to become a training practice which will help them attract more GPs. As a result of my Parliamentary debate on general practice capacity and large-scale housing developments, I’ve been contacted by a health infrastructure planning lawyer who is helping me to try to improve the sub optimal way we currently deal with this issue.
It was also good to learn about increased police officer recruitment in Bedfordshire with an increase of 134 more officers since September 2019 now bringing us to force a total of 1,411 the highest ever. However, it’s not just about numbers it is about where they are deployed and this October will mark a decade on from the disastrous decision to roster our officers in either Luton or Bedford. A new police hub in Leighton Buzzard will help but I still want a 24/7 first responder presence in Houghton Regis, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard and Linslade.
I would also like to give a shout out to Royal Mail for switching over all 43 delivery vehicles in their Leighton Buzzard sorting office to electric. It is another example of how doing the right thing for the planet and for local people who will breathe in less diesel fumes, is also the right thing for our pockets, as the whole life cost of this investment will save Royal Mail money. It would be nice to think that the cost of a stamp might come down as a result, but I’m not holding my breath!