Right move to look into No10 events
AS I sit down to write this on Wednesday morning before the Prime Minister has stood up at PMQS, I am conscious that anything I write will be out of date by the time this is published.
What I can say, however, is that I completely understand why many feel as they do about reports of events in Number 10.
Although it doesn’t compare with sacrifices that others have made, in a smaller way we too as a family have been impacted by this pandemic.
First, all of us contracted Covid; second, I lost someone I cared for to the virus; third, I have experience of attending a funeral for a family member where only a small number of mourners could attend; fourth, I had to Zoom into the funeral of a friend when I dearly wanted to be there in person; fifth, I have had to deal with my own distressed children, upset at being forced into repeated isolation during the “pingdemic”.
So I agree this needs to be fully investigated, and an inquiry by a senior civil servant is rightly now under way.
In other news, this week I held talks with Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, to press for more medical research funding for ME/CFS.
ME is a dreadful, debilitating condition which can leave sufferers in a nearpermanent state of exhaustion.
It is a cause close to my heart, and I am so grateful to the local Cheltenham group who have battled so brilliantly over the last five years to help me raise the profile of this disease and make sufferers’ voices heard.
It was an excellent meeting, and the Secretary of State has agreed to work with me to ensure appropriate research projects are properly supported.
I also took the opportunity to discuss plans for a Gloucestershire Cancer Institute for Cheltenham, an ambitious proposal which I’m backing for our hospital.