DEREK TWIGG HALTON MP

MY thoughts over Christmas and New Year will especially be with those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Universal Credit has caused real hardship for many families in Halton, with the number of people having to use foodbanks rising.

It is unacceptable that there is a need for foodbanks in one of the richest economies in the world.

My thanks goes to those wonderful volunteers who collect and distribute the food.

The past year has been a year dominated by Brexit and in the New Year Parliament must come to a decision.

I don’t recall during my time as a MP, there being a more important time in our nation’s history.

It is a privilege and an honour to serve as the Member of Parliament for Halton, one of the great joys of my role is meeting so many people who work very hard to make our community here such a success, especially those that give their own time to volunteer to help others.

It is this community spirit that helps contribute to Halton being such a vibrant place where people want to live and work.

A good example of this is the Unlock Runcorn project that wants to see the locks re-opened on the Bridgewater Canal, I very much hope we see this fantastic project, run by volunteers, progress further in 2019.

We have a wonderful NHS which despite ever growing pressures has continued to cope with limited resources, I want to thank all the NHS staff who live and work in Halton for their dedication and hard work.

I also wish to thank the emergency services who will be working over Christmas and New Year, and our carers who will be caring for our elderly and vulnerable.

I wish all your readers and my constituents a Happy Christmas and successful New Year.