Letter to David Smith MP - 16th October 2024

This is a letter I sent to my MP, David Smith (Labour) which remains unanswered 4 months later. Is it any wonder we lose faith in our politicians?

David Smith MP. House of Commons. LONDON SW1A 0AA

16th October 2024

Dear Mr Smith

I am writing again to you in your capacity as the Labour MP for North Northumberland, as you may appreciate it is disappointing to not having been afforded the respect and courtesy of a reply to my original letter (30th July 2024) particularly with you having been so recently elected to represent me and your other constituents.

I remain utterly appalled that one of the first actions of The Government is to remove the longstanding (introduced by Labour) winter fuel payment (WFP) of £300 to pensioners, adversely affecting approximately ten million people. This has been promoted as being “means tested” when it is not, it is a blanket cut. The means of individuals to manage without it has not been tested at all.

I cannot tell you how disappointed we are that you personally, as our elected representative and a Labour Member of Parliament, voted on Tuesday 10th September to support the “means testing” (it is no such thing) of the winter fuel payment to pensioners, you didn’t even have the good grace or courage to abstain, this to me is very much “putting party before people”.

On top of this we now have the ongoing scandal of our Prime Minister and Government Ministers piling onto the gravy train, a stream of “gifts” in the form of free tickets (concert & sport), free clothes, free travel, free accommodation, even free spectacles costing thousands etc. etc. The behavior of those now in power is utterly shameful in the eyes of the voting public and it is clear why the Prime Minister’s approval rating has plunged below that of the Tory leader Rishi Sunak, suffering a huge 45-point drop since July.

Based on the performance so far and our personal quite dreadful experience of the NHS in recent days I see no prospect of improvement, just more debt, more fiddling of the books and a worsening of our standard of living in general. So far, even before the budget, we are unquestionably worse off under a Labour Government.

Yours sincerely,