Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington Matt Western said: “Cutting Universal Credit during perhaps the UK’s greatest ever public health crisis and a crippling recession would be a disaster for so many of the nation’s poorest families.

“If the boost is scrapped in April, it will amount to the loss of more than £1,000 over 12 months for 6million hard-pressed families.

“The benefit boost has provided some of the most vulnerable people and families with certainty and insulation from the worst financial effects of COVID-19.

“To cut Universal Credit in April would be tantamount to the Government consciously pushing hundreds of thousands of families into poverty – including 730,000 children, according to the Resolution Foundation.

“This is, quite frankly, inhuman.

“That is why I will today (January 18) be voting to extend the Universal Credit weekly allowance scheme – and calling for an extension of other vital legacy benefits that thousands depend on.”

In Warwick and Leamington, the number of people in receipt of UC has doubled since March and the outbreak of the pandemic.

There were just over 3,000 claimants in March compared to nearly 6,700 as of November, according to the latest available figures. This number of claimants is extremely likely  to have increased over Christmas.

The Warwick District Foodbank run by the Trussell Trust reported record usage figures throughout December, averaging more than 200 clients per week. It cites benefit delays and changes as among the primary reasons people present themselves.

MP Matt Western says children are being short-changed by the government and its contractors amid chaos over free school meals.

The Labour MP hosted an urgent debate yesterday (January 13) in Parliament on supporting students in the transition to online education.

Last week the Prime Minister Boris Johnson reversed his decision to keep schools open after COVID-19 cases spiralled.

The astonishing U-turn came less than 24 hours after Mr Johnson said they were safe for children and teachers on live television.

After being contacted by Mr Western, Campion School headteacher Nick Hawkins criticised the government for failing to announce a coherent plan to feed disadvantaged children over lockdown.

He says 28% of his students are reliant on free school meals.

The government’s food hamper and meal voucher roll out has been catastrophic, he says – and has exposed deep inequality.

On a call with Mr Western, Mr Hawkins said: “Our families are desperate for food and money.

“One parent called me late at night saying she had only a single can of beans in the house and no money to buy food.

“She clearly needed urgent help feeding her children – so we rushed to get her food vouchers.

He added: “The government’s communication has been poor.

“They knew schools were shutting so why have there been so many problems.

“I’ve just had a meeting with 20 headteachers and they’re all saying the same thing.”

Primary schools and secondary schools were closed last Tuesday (January 5) – while special schools and nurseries remain open.

As of last April, there were 603 children in Warwick and 533 in Leamington Spa that were reliant on free school meals.

Amid the UK’s third lockdown, Mr Western says the government needs to take urgent action to fix the school meals system.

His call comes days after social media was flooded with shocking images of measly food parcels delivered to deprived schoolchildren by contracted firm Chartwells.

The furore has ignited nationwide calls for food parcels to be scrapped and cash payments for parents to be reintroduced.

Educators are also calling for an immediate return to the Edenred scheme amid recent delays to the voucher system.

The Warwick and Leamington MP said: “The government’s U-turn left many schools and families no time to plan for online learning.

“Millions of children across the country, and hundreds in Warwick and Leamington, have had their education unfairly impaired by the catastrophic decisions of the government.

“The decision was too little, too late. And it has exposed the vast divide between the wealthiest and poorest families in the UK – particularly over the issue of free school meals.

“On a personal level, to hear stories of children going hungry is really upsetting – and should spur us on to support our teachers and lobby the government to take action on providing meals for schools.

“It seems extraordinary that the government and Conservative back-benchers opposed the extension of free school meals in October half term.

“Many of Warwickshire’s poorest children are facing a crisis – and will be trying to make up for the damage done to their education for years to come.

“If anyone is upset by their school meals allocation, please contact my office.”

Mr Western can be contacted on matt.western.mp@parliament.uk or by calling 01926 882006.

MP Matt Western has questioned the government’s vaccine delivery strategy – and fears issues over access.

The Warwick and Leamington MP has called for regional authorities to focus on involving willing health professionals in the roll out and opening easily accessible local sites.

Dozens of elderly and vulnerable residents have written to Mr Western concerned about letters from the NHS instructing them to travel to Birmingham for the vaccine, he says.

The guidance is contradicting guidance they received from local GPs before Christmas.

Many residents aged over 80 received a text message inviting them to book an appointment at a Leamington vaccination centre.

But many were then told there were no appointments, and in some cases, they attended only to be told no vaccines were available.

Forcing people to travel to Birmingham risks their safety and will prevent many receiving the potentially life-saving vaccine, Mr Western says.

The Labour MP fears the Government is trying to manipulate statistics by committing to targets based on ‘offered vaccines’ as opposed to ‘administered vaccines’ – two very different things.

Mr Western said: “I’m concerned the government is chasing headlines again and appears to have failed to learn the lessons from the first nine months of this crisis.

“I hope the government won’t be blaming residents or GPs if it does not meet its target. GPs and pharmacies want to deliver the vaccines locally and it is understandable elderly residents do not want to risk their health to access vaccination sites 25 miles away.

“I want the government to succeed with the programme. I’ll be working with the local council and public health officials to drive volunteer recruitment as well as help find sites.

“We also need NHS staff to receive vaccines immediately, followed by schools and nursery staff.

“I asked local officials to publish a local breakdown of vaccine data on a weekly basis so that MPs are able to hold the government to account effectively. We are still waiting on these.”

The news comes as the government opens seven mass inoculation centres across the UK, including one in Birmingham.

In a call with the South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group last Friday (January 8), Mr Western also urged local testing sites to be made available as soon as possible in addition to GPs surgeries and hospitals.

He suggested town halls and large empty shop premises as potential locations.

Along with new local sites, he says pharmacists, vets and beauticians should be considered to help with the roll out.

Joining Labour leader Keir Starmer, he called for vaccine centres to be open 24/7 to ensure the government’s targets are met.

He also called on local volunteers to increase the pace of vaccinations – putting himself forward to help.

There are growing fears the government will be unable to reach regional targets if the roll out continues at the current rate.

The target for Coventry and Warwickshire by the end of March is 420,000 people aged over 50.

But as of last Friday, 24,000 vaccines had been administered in the region since the beginning of last month.

Mr Western is urging residents not to call their GPs or other healthcare providers. They will be contacted when a vaccine is available.

Finally, if any residents over the age of 80 haven’t had a vaccine by Monday, please contact Mr Western at matt.western.mp@parliament.uk or call his office on 01926 882006.

MP Matt Western has called for urgent support for small businesses with Warwickshire remaining under Tier 3 restrictions.

The Warwick and Leamington MP joined calls for business rates paid by supermarkets to be reinjected into the struggling hospitality sector.

After a startling rise in cases, Warwickshire learned yesterday (December 17) that it would remain in Tier 3 under the strictest COVID-19 restrictions.

Mr Western says there are over 100 businesses in Leamington Spa alone with rent that needs paying and jobs at risk.

In response, Mr Western has called on the government to use more than £2billion in business rates paid by major supermarkets to bailout smaller traders.

Supermarkets waived their business rates relief and paid in full after an outcry over the size of shareholder dividends as COVID-19 heavily damaged smaller businesses.

Mr Western has also pledged support to the aims of the Bounce Back Better campaign which has outlined a package of measures to save businesses amid tier restrictions.

These include 100% discount on business rates, one-off grants and VAT fixed at 5% for the hospitality sector.

Mr Western says he is disappointed Warwickshire wasn’t placed in Tier 2 a fortnight ago when cases were significantly lower.

But he also acknowledged the spike in cases it may have led to.

He said: “A fortnight ago, with case rates looking extremely promising for Warwickshire, it seemed inconsistent and misguided for us to be placed in Tier 3.

“And as a result, our hospitality sector suffered a devastating loss of revenue during its most crucial fortnight of the year.

“It is now essential that the government steps in to support hospitality – with many businesses in my constituency fearing for their future and feeling let down by the government.

“Being grouped with Coventry and Solihull – both areas, at the time, with higher case rates – at the request of Warwickshire County Council’s Conservative leadership surely condemned us to Tier 3.

“And other local councils and representatives were undemocratically excluded from discussions with the government.

“But with cases once again rising exponentially across the country, those circumstances have changed, and we have to react as new data emerges.”

After conversations with business owners in his constituency, he says many claimed it would have been too late to move into Tier 3 this week – with the costs of reopening outweighing revenues.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock decided Warwickshire should remain in Tier 3 with cases for all age groups rising exponentially in Warwick, Rugby and Stratford over the last week.

Mr Western urged for Warwickshire communities to exercise caution and show resolve to bring cases back down.

Badly hit businesses have said it is ‘too late’ for Warwickshire restrictions to be relaxed during talks with Matt Western MP.

The Warwick and Leamington MP approached pubs and restaurants ahead of the government’s review into the tiered system of Covid-19 restrictions today (December 17).

Business owners say they have suffered catastrophic losses in the last fortnight after being forced to remain closed since Warwickshire went into Tier 3 on December 2.

And it was revealed last week that a request was made in November by the leader of Warwickshire County Council, Izzi Seccombe, to group the region with neighbouring Coventry and Solihull.

Mr Western claims higher case rates in Solihull led to Warwickshire being placed in Tier 3 unnecessarily.

This was despite the region entering lockdown in Tier 1.

Businesses, particularly those in the hospitality sector, were previously eager to see restrictions immediately loosened so they could reopen.

But they now say their anticipated revenues for December and January would not cover the costs of reopening, particularly with the loss of financial support and relief provided by the government – and the threat of reclosing.

Mr Western said: “While we should have been in Tier 2 this past fortnight, things are moving quickly and there has been a rapid rise in the number of cases.

“Businesses that were previously devastated to have to close say opening would not be worth the risks with potential revenues so insubstantial. They say it’s too late.”

Owner of the Newbold Comyn Arms Sarah Miller said: “It’s no good reopening and then having to shut again. We wouldn’t know whether we would be able to get the stock, whether we have to serve a smaller menu, or even which employees to bring off furlough.

“It comes down to finances and I’m really fearful this could be it.”

Leamington Spa and Warwick have seen a rise in cases over the last week while Warwickshire as a whole has seen a 20% increase. However, the rolling case rate remains higher in Coventry and Solihull.

Mr Western added: “This is going to be an extremely tough call for the government, and (Labour Party leader) Keir Starmer is right to demand a review into relaxing the restrictions over Christmas.

“But in any future reviews, Warwickshire must be considered as its own region without Coventry and Solihull.

“All local councils and representatives must be involved in any discussions with the government.”

MP Matt Western has pledged support to ‘vital’ Myton Hospices after the charity launched an emergency appeal.

The hospices in Warwick, Coventry and Rugby need to raise £500,000 in this financial year to avoid reducing services and turning some people away.

Myton Hospice launched a special friends and supporters scheme called My Myton, to help the local charity get through the difficult Covid-19 period.

One of the first to sign up to the scheme was Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western.

He said: “The Myton Hospices are invaluable for so many families in our area.

“After a difficult year, I urge residents to donate as much as they possibly can to help protect their long term future.

“Charities across the region are struggling: Myton is very much part of our community fabric, and is in need of extra funding to recover from the pandemic with all of its services intact.

“Please consider signing up to the My Myton programme this Christmas to safeguard the future of such a vital charity.”

Launching the initiative, The Myton Hospices chief executive, Ruth Freeman, said: “While it is important that we protect the NHS and care homes, it is also important that hospices are not forgotten.

“Thankfully local people are incredibly generous. Eighty percent of our income comes from fundraising.

“But without our mass participation events and with our shops closed for long periods there has been a sharp fall in income. Also making our hospices Covid-secure has meant additional costs.”

The charity is asking people to support their local hospice by becoming members of My Myton and donating £10 a month for 12 months.

Last year, Myton supported more than 1,800 patients and their families in its Inpatient Units, with counselling, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, a ‘Living Well’ programme, and in people’s own homes through the ‘Myton at Home’ service.

The hospices have nearly 300 members of staff including the medical teams and are helped by more than 1,000 volunteers.

Although the Santa Dash, an annual sponsored run in which participants dress up as Santa, could not be held this year due to Covid restrictions, people did participate on their own and in their bubbles.

To support your local hospice and join My Myton go to www.mytonhospice.org/MyMyton to
sign up online or download a form from the website, call 01926 358383 to sign up over the
phone or request a form to be sent to you.

MP Matt Western challenged the Prime Minister on why the UK had suffered greater industrial and economic damage than other European nations in response to the pandemic.

The Warwick and Leamington MP questioned the government’s recovery through an analysis of the relative performance of UK, German and French car sales this year.

He said: “It’s too easy to talk about the economic impact in the abstract, namely a projected 12% fall in GDP due to COVID-19 here in the UK – worst among G7 countries.

“But it is important to illustrate to the public the shocking reality of the government’s response in more tangible terms.

“We need to look at the detail of the damage to our economy – to our combined prosperity – and so I analysed the car sales data for the UK in relation to our major competitors. The results are extremely concerning.”

He raised the issue in a question to the Prime Minister yesterday (Wednesday, December 9).

He revealed the UK has lost the equivalent of 184,000 more car sales relative to the losses suffered by Germany from January to October this year.

He also showed the UK has lost 93,000 more car sales relative to the decline over that same period in France.

Mr Western says the analysis is an indicator of how the government has failed to control the pandemic and, in particular, it exposes its failings on test and trace.

The essential, basic measures would have ensured less disruption socially and to businesses allowing greater continuity of economic activity, he claims.

He also says it is particularly telling that Germany and France were able to re-start their manufacturing sectors much more quickly compared to the UK. They also re-opened car showrooms faster.

The UK car market – essential to the Midlands’ recovery from the crisis – has seen a 31% slump this year compared to the last. This is the equivalent of more than 620,000 vehicles and a loss of £18billion to the sector.

Year on year, France’s car sales have declined by about 27% (equivalent to about 490,000 vehicles) and Germany’s by only 23% (or 707,791 vehicles).

Mr Western added: “The UK has suffered a significantly worse slump in car sales, as the statistics show.

“For the Prime Minister to ignore this disparity epitomises the dismissive attitude of a government that continues to ignore the plight of manufacturing businesses. He said, ‘F*** business’: he clearly meant it.”

Matt Western MP is pressing for answers from Warwickshire County Council leaders after it was claimed they ‘requested’ the region be grouped with Coventry and Solihull under the new COVID-19 restrictions.

The Warwick and Leamington MP has accused the county council of lacking transparency.

He says he and other local decision makers were excluded from the negotiations which led to the area being subject to the harshest measures.

Last week, the government prompted outrage after designating Warwickshire in Tier 3 under the new system of restrictions.

Warwickshire was grouped with Coventry and Solihull despite having a lower rate of transmission of the virus.

Mr Western responded by calling for a review into the region’s placement in Tier 3.

He also demanded the data behind the decision be published and businesses be compensated.

Last week, Stratford District Council launched a legal challenge against the government, disputing the decision – only to withdraw its case yesterday (December 9).

In a statement, Stratford District Council Leader Councillor Jefferson wrote: “In its response the government also shared some new information with us which we were not aware when we made the decision to challenge them; the county council requested the approach of considering tiers at public health, upper tier authority level along with clustering with Coventry and Solihull.”

The previously undisclosed admission has reignited concerns Warwickshire County Council held conversations with the government and acted without consulting local partners.

Matt Western said today: “On several occasions now I have demanded the government analysis that led to the imposition of Tier 3 restrictions in Warwickshire be released to the public.

“The revelation today that the county council could have requested that Warwickshire be included with Coventry and Solihull will be met with further suspicion from the public.

“Along with district and borough councils in the region, local MPs appear to have been excluded from these discussions – which is unacceptable.

“The decision has undermined local democracy and public trust in the government’s devastating restrictions.

“I wholeheartedly agree that strong measures are necessary to prevent any further spread of COVID-19 and safeguard the NHS. And I also accept that the lower capacity of hospital provision in our region would be an issue.

“But the public and its representatives should have been consulted about this.

“However, with transmission rates continuing to fall, I am optimistic that the region should soon be taken out of Tier 3.”

NOMINATION FORM BELOW: 

Matt Western MP announced the first annual ‘MP Community Awards’ event in August to pay tribute to hardworking and often unsung local workers and volunteers. 

The event – which will be named the ‘Warwick and Leamington MP Awards for Community Excellence’ – is set to be held early next year on Thursday, February 18, and there are several categories for nominations. 

The public can vote for individuals, a business, community group or team (a hospital team or charity team, for example) that have gone the extra mile in supporting and serving residents.