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AIBU?

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To be infuriated and deeply disappointed by this response from Flick Drummond, my MP

109 replies

Claliscool · 28/05/2020 13:30

Absolutely flabbergasted at the 'let's move on' rhetoric. I wrote expressing my bewilderment at bjs support of dc at such a critical time and this was the response :

Dear.... ,

Thank you for your email regarding the recent matter of the Prime Minister’s adviser Dominic Cummings. I have received several hundred emails on this subject, making the case on both sides, all of which I am reading. I hope you will forgive me sending you a standard response, as otherwise it will be impossible for me to reply to everyone in a timely fashion and there are also many other constituents whom I am trying to help access Government support. I have made the Government very clear of the strength of your views and of the many others I have heard from.

I have never met Dominic Cummings or his family and wanted to wait until I heard all the facts before writing back to you. Having watched his press conference, I understood why he decided to drive to isolate himself in a cottage on his parents’ farm where he could get help from his family had both he and his wife become incapacitated. I have no idea what his childcare arrangements are in London, but it is difficult to place a four year old with people that you do not know. As a mother myself, I have always put my children first, so I can understand this.

We all use our own personal judgement and common sense during crises and this seemed to be a hurried and last minute decision from a worried father at a stressful time. I fully appreciate that many people did not feel that they were able to make the same decisions while undergoing similar or in some cases even worse hardships, and I understand the very real hurt and the anger this has caused.

I do not agree with his trip to Barnard Castle. People were allowed to drive to exercise if they have no local place to walk and this does not appear to have been the case in this situation.

I was disappointed to hear that his home and family had been targeted by the press and others at the beginning of the lockdown and hope that they will now leave his family alone.

There are many other key issues at stake in this difficult time and I am concerned that we are losing focus on those while attention is diverted by this matter. I want to concentrate on helping those constituents who still need my support and work on how we are going to improve our social care system.

I realise that this incident has caused a deep sense of anger, disappointment and frustration for many people, which I completely understand and which I am relaying to the Government. I feel incredibly sad for all of you who have lost loved ones or have not seen family for some time, some of your emails have been heart breaking. I hope that you have now been visiting family outside the home if you are able and I am sure that we will be announcing the further lifting of restrictions very soon.

The most important thing now is that we continue our progress in reducing the infection rate so that we can come out of lockdown and things can begin to return to normal. I will continue to support the Government as we move forward to get Britain back to work safely.

Thank you again for getting in touch. Keep safe and well.

Kind regards,

Flick

Flick Drummond MP

Member of Parliament for Meon Valley

OP posts:
Msmcc1212 · 29/05/2020 16:02

Yup. Have been in regular touch with my MP. On March 13 I also sent her something from and epidemiologist that cane round that looked at the data from China, Italy and Spain and predicted what would happen here and asked for us to be locked down sooner to avoid unnecessary deaths. Please don’t make assumptions about why people are so angry and what their past political activity has been.

It isn’t the hypocrisy that I am angry about it’s that his refusal to accept he was wrong, apologise and take the consequences sends the wrong message. People will only take guidelines if we feel like we are all in it together. And I’m not so much angry as worried! More deaths, more grief, more trauma and more suffering.

Msmcc1212 · 29/05/2020 16:03

From and epidemiologist that came around 🙄 bloody fat fingers!

user1471505494 · 29/05/2020 16:51

I think that it was a very measured response. You are angry because she didn’t agree with you. That’s life

KKSlider · 29/05/2020 18:57

I got a stock response from my MP thanking me for my email but basically saying "Dominic has explained himself and I agree with his account, Boris has said to move on so now it is time to move on".

The second part of my email, about people on Carers' Allowance deserving more than 40p an hour, was ignored.

Msmcc1212 · 29/05/2020 23:48

It’s so depressing. ‘Now it’s time to move on!’

We, the people, will bloody well decide when! This is still, barely, a democracy.

Msmcc1212 · 29/05/2020 23:49

40p an hour? Sad Angry

FliesandPies · 29/05/2020 23:57

I'm very angry about the Cummings scandal but I don't think that reply is too bad actually - she sounds sincere and sympathetic.

KKSlider · 29/05/2020 23:59

40p an hour.

Carers' Allowance is £67.25 a week, ti get this you can to be providing a minimum of 35hrs p/wk of care to someone who in receipt of middle or higher rate DLA or higher rate PiP. You yourself must be earning under £12p/we from other sources.

£67.15 over 35hrs equates to £1.91 per hour however many carers are providing 24/7 care and £67.15 over 24/7 is 40p an hour (rounded up the nearest penny).

You can only claim Carers' Allowance once, no matter how many people you are caring for so - as an example - people with more than one disabled child or a disabled child and a disabled partner can only claim one amount of Carers' Allowance. It is also a taxable benefit so is taken into account when calculating other allowances.

These carers, as well as those people who are providing the required hours of care but earn over the £128 threshold so get nothing, save the UK an estimated £132 billion each year in social care costs - the equivalent of a second NHS. If they all turned around tomorrow and said "I'm not going it any more" before dropping their person/people off at the nearest hospital or care facility, the social care system would collapse.

£67 a week for their efforts is a national disgrace.

My MP completely ignored that part of my email though.

SimplySteveRedux · 30/05/2020 00:27

I am concerned that we are losing focus on those

Yes, like the Agricultural Bill passed recently to lower our food standards.

I've received a very similar response from my (Tory) MP, FWIW.

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