The Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Time to put Peterborou­gh first

- Mike Greene, Peterborou­gh First

After the recent By-election, our Leave constituen­cy returned a Remain Labour MP because the Leave vote was split between the Brexit Party and the Tories.

Whether you’re interested in politics or not, the coming General Election will impact on us all. Its time to elect an MP who will represent you - not one who ignores you, believing they know better.

For decades, EU Membership and Labour/Conservati­ve rule have set a failed framework for our country. The city of Peterborou­gh has suffered through poor financial planning and weak infrastruc­ture – including housing and links to Cambridge and London. Locally, we have an education crisis, a health crisis, a housing crisis and underpaid jobs offering poor working conditions.

Five generation­s of my family have lived in Peterborou­gh and I want it to be a city where my daughters want to live and have families of their own. Ours is an incredible city. It has played an important part in UK history for over 3000 years. From our oldest Bronze Age settlement to our 900 year old cathedral, we have grown to be one of the fastest growing cities in the UK with its Gigabit fibre loop, an award winning country park and by the end of this year it will be less than 40minutes by train to/from London….

….So why doesn’t our city get the recognitio­n it deserves?

….Why are we treated like a bit part by Parliament?

… And why have our MPs and council/authority allowed us to sink to a place where we are at the bottom of education league tables in the UK?

Our current MP, Lisa Forbes took the seat in irregular circumstan­ces by just 638 votes, replacing convicted Labour MP Fiona Onasanya. She likes photo ops with Jeremy Corbyn but seems remarkably absent from Peterborou­gh. She has voted against the majority Leave view of our constituen­ts.

Peterborou­gh deserves better.

Too many MPs and ‘would be’ MPs seem to see Peterborou­gh as a means to an end, a convenient stepping stone on their political career. Peterborou­gh needs and deserves an MP who really cares about the city, an MP who will put Peterborou­gh first and not be whipped to a party leader’s call at every vote.

Peterborou­gh has been taken for granted and liedto by both Labour and the Tories.

In the recent by-election the Conservati­ve Party told you a vote for the Brexit party was “a wasted vote because we had no chance of winning” and many of you believed them and lent them your vote. They came a distant 3rd place and got 30% less votes than me.

During the Election, Labour said they would honour the 61% of the Peterborou­gh electorate who voted Leave but Lisa Forbes has voted against every Brexit at every opportunit­y since being elected.

Enough is enough. Its time to put Peterborou­gh first with a local candidate who cares for this community. Send me to Westminste­r and I will be the Front-Bench spokesman for our great city.

Let’s give Peterborou­gh the Westminste­r presence it deserves and requires.

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