Punjab-origin UK MP axed as Covid warrior for speaking about PPE crunch
LONDON: An Indian-origin opposition Labour Party MP, who had returned part-time to her previous role of a care worker to join the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, says she was sacked for speaking out against the shortage of PPE on the frontlines.
Nadia Whittome, born in the UK to a Punjabi father and the youngest member of parliament in the House of Commons representing her birthplace of Nottingham in central England since her win in the December 2019 general election, is now running a drive to encourage care workers to speak out if they have safety concerns.
“Because I’ve spoken out about this (PPE shortages) I’ve been sacked from my employment. But this isn’t just about me, it’s not just about one individual case, or even one employer. Care workers across the country are being easily exploited by their employers, especially if they’re on zero-hours contracts,” said the 24-year-old Labour Party MP, who had pledged to donate the salary from her part-time role at the retirement home run by ExtraCare to a local Covid-19 support fund. “If you are one of the care workers who has been pressured or threatened with disciplinary action for speaking out about the lack of PPE, then I’d like you to contact my office, in confidence, to share your experience. It’s really important that we get a picture of the scale of this happening across the country,” she said, in her appeal to care workers.
Her employer ExtraCare said in a statement that the reason for Whittome’s contract being terminated was that they no longer required extra staff and also that there were no problems with PPE at the Lark Hill retirement village where she had been based.
“Nadia joined us as a casual worker to help our care team. Our in-house care team is now fulfilling our needs at this time and Nadia’s help is no longer needed,” the statement said.