MP Sara makes historic speech at home
HYNDBURN’S MP has used her maiden House of Commons speech to pledge to fight for fairer funding for the north’s ‘forgotten towns’.
Addressing the House via video link and therefore making history as the first MP ever to make their maiden speech from their own home, Sara Britcliffe spoke about her pride in her home town, describing it as “the capital of Lancashire”.
Citing the Accrington Pals, Accrington Stanley, and Holland’s Pies, she compared our “unbreakable” NHS, key workers and front-line services to the famous Accrington NORI brick.
In deeply personal passages, Sara, who at 25 is the country’s youngest Conservative MP, made reference to the tragedy of her mother Gabrielle Kroger’s death when she was just nine, and spoke of how her former council leader father Peter “picked up the pieces”.
Sara, who thanked her predecessor Graham Jones and paid tribute to the borough’s last Tory MP the late Ken Hargreaves, said she wanted to “personally champion” tackling the devastating effects of alcohol misuse and mental health issues.
She said: “I lost my mum when I was nine. I witnessed a woman I, and many, adored crumble before my eyes and a father having to pick up the pieces; all while trying to provide for his family.
“My family’s experience is not an isolated case. That is why it is so important that the right support is available to help them get through dark and difficult times, something I will be campaigning hard for as an MP.”
She added that lockdown in the fight against coronavirus is “hard but necessary”, adding that her father is staying at home in isolation this week for his 70th birthday.
Speaking afterwards, Sara, who lives in
Oswaldtwistle, said: “It was an honour to be able to be able to make my maiden speech, from the place I call home and in the community that I represent. I would have liked to have done it among my friends and colleagues but realise that is so important that everyone gets behind the social distancing measures the Government has put in, to protect lives and save the NHS.”