One rule for them ...

[TheLadyAnneNeville]

Well, we have a Communities Secretary who has stood on podium at the 5pm Press Brief and urged us to Stay Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives. He has been found to have visited his parents in Shropshire (an 80+ mile round trip) to take them some groceries. The man, Robert Jenrick, has demonstrated the “it doesn’t apply to me/I’m different” attitude that will see BBQ’s/parties/picnics happening up and down the UK, this weekend.

How are people to get the message above when those in Govt. don’t get it? It’s the “Ive visited hospitals today and shaken hands with COVID19 patents” from Boris. And look where that got him.

And we ordinary folk are being vilified for not shopping essential items only. Police waiting to rummage through our shopping baskets to check we haven’t put contraband in there alongside the bread and milk. I don’t get it.

I’ve struck to the rules ridgidly. Haven’t shopped for a week now but will need to go to Boots tomorrow to collect DH’s diabetic meds. What’s the point if Mr Jenrick just “nips” to visit mum and dad?

It's not that easy to get chemists to deliver medication.
I have tried for a week to phone a chemist, they can't cope with demand, don't answer the phone and reduced opening times.

Plus if you are lucky enough to get through on the phone there is a wait for delivery which some people can't wait if they have run out of medication.

I don't like Tories at all but the example of him driving to get his parents shopping is essential and acceptable.

I also wondered why his parents weren't being supported by local schemes and therefore why he would need to actually do that journey. I don't know where about in Shropshire his parents live but in my part of Shropshire there are plenty of local businesses delivering goods/ready meals etc and volunteers a plenty to deliver medication. Our BBC local radio station is providing help and advice all day every day so if people don't know how to tap into the help they can ring the radio station who will put them in touch with someone who can help. There is no reason i can think of why he would need to make that journey - other than he's got stubborn parents who refuse to ask for/accept help from 'strangers' - and believe me I've been there with my DM when she was alive and lived 75 miles away - but guess what - she had to get used to it!

@Ferfooksek what outrage should I be aware of so I can be outraged ?

It's unacceptable. The people standing up on a podium telling millions not to leave their homes should be leading by example. Given what's happened in Westminster the last couple of weeks he's also super high risk for being infected (or having already been infected). As PP said - this is what happens when you vote in a bunch of elitist wankers who only look out for themselves.

The difference is he drove miles to go there!

A bit like Stephen Kinnock who used the same reason to travel to see his Dad on his Birthday (while dropping off essentials)

I cannot defend him I am afraid!

@Ferfooksek
What do you mean about Sir Keir Starmer? His mother was a nurse and his father a toolmaker, a manual factory worker. He was clever enough to get a place at what was a state grammar school and has worked his way up ever since.

Thank you Grim. An accurate summary.
I think you have to put this in the context of his general behaviour. He doesn't come out of it well.
In 2014 he got away with corruption in the Newark by-election and his constituency never sees him. Have a look at his voting record too.

I'm completely unsurprised by his actions.

Communities sec needs to resign 80m round trip should not have happened and I'm sure the local volunteers would have sorted his parents out. I'm particularly pissed off as it's a similar situation to my own and I've stayed at home. Bastard.

Local support is patchy. My dad lives 100 miles away and so far we’ve managed but we’re fully prepared to have to make the journey if needed.

It’s a mixed blessing that he lives in a city with a good coordinated community response but obviously this means people are more likely to be in a spot with more people getting ill so support waxes and wains.

My friends dad on the other hand lives in a much smaller town with a high elderly population 80 miles away and community volunteers and response is minimal at best. She has to make the journey this weekend because there are no delivery slots, no volunteers to drop anything themselves and all of hers and her dads contacts are vulnerable themselves.

People have to make these journeys. I can’t get my knickers in a twist about anyone doing this.

I am not making a political point it is about trust, genuineness and authenticity!

Whatever political party you come from

He didn't just do the 80 mile round trip. If that was all, and he hadn't gone inside, it would be unconvincing (I am sure he can access help for his parents), but maybe passable.

It's much worse than that. He lives in a huge house less than a mile from Westminster where he has obviously been working. He has been mixing in London, a hot spot, and in close contact with several known cases. He then ignores the govt advice that it is 'make your mind up time' about where you base yourself, and drives about 150 miles to the mansion in Herefordshire or Shropshire where his wife and children are. It was only after that unecessary trip that he then drove the further 40 miles to his parents.

He is claiming that they regard the country house as the main family home. I wouldn't know about that or where the children go to school, but anyway so what? His wife and kids can either stay in London, or see him later. He doesn't get to change the household configuration and drive at distance for no good reason without criticism.

If his parents really did need supplies, why could his wife not take them, sparing him the longer journey?

And yes, he did originally say he was going to be based in his constituency. In which by the way you'd struggle to find a rental as expensive as the one he apparently requires tax payers to fund for his third home.

Are certain vulnerable people not worthy of food or medication?

If I relied on pharmacy delivery I would be in hospital right now, I’m having to severely ration my insulin as you just can’t get enough locally. My GP surgery refuse to change your nominated pharmacy, it took my boyfriend five days to get my insulin due to a lack of supplies.

My boyfriends housemate is having to shield due to having CF, he is on the vulnerable list but cannot get deliveries from sainsburys, ocado, tesco etc. His illness means he has a high daily calorie requirement, without adequate food he would become very ill very quickly. If we didn’t drop his shopping off his only other source of food would be very expensive takeaway which would lead to him using a huge amount of creons.

He was wrong as far as I'm concerned, as indeed was Staphen Kinnock a week earlier. Politicians should be leading by example.

and no one, not a single person, voluntary or otherwise could assist in this delivery

It's entirely possible. Not everyone has friends or neighbours they can ask.

Though I'd expect an MP to have more than a few contacts!

The difference is he drove miles to go there!

But what number of miles makes a difference? My in laws live on the same street as me. My parents live 40 miles away. Where is the the point at which I have started breaking the rules or gone against the spirit of them? I’m genuinely trying to understand. I don’t want to break rules so if I am being an idiot I will stop. But it is not clear why one is ok and the other not. Especially when the police had no issue. Or are they both a problem and I should call in volunteers for my in laws too?

I wish the press would focus on the fact that before this journey he drove 150 miles to a second home, reconfiguring a household it seems but certainly leaving London for a rural community. It was only from there that he went on to his parents.

Also, he is the minister in charge of distribution of food and supplies to the elderly and vulnerable. You're not telling me he couldn't access help. But anyway if he just dropped it off, fine...but why was he out of London? If his wife was already in the country home couldn't she drop off supplies?

Yes Inkpaper and that his family have clearly moved to their second home.

I don't think what he has done is ok. It's not as blatant as Catherine Calderwood but it's a clear bending of the rules. In the same way that Stephen Kinnock's drive from Wales to London to deliver 'essential supplies' to his father (on his birthday) was outrageous.

The actual wording in the government leaflet is 'Any Medical Need.....provide care or help a vulnerable person'. It seems to me that too many are using this as an excuse; eg, my parents are older than me which means I can class them as vulnerable, so I can just pop over and see them under the guise of delivering food/medicine/care. It's not just MPs, and it's selfish and unfair on those who know what is really meant by the wording.

If nothing else I hope this shines the light on how politically under-represented you are when you live in a safe seat, especially when the MP is parachuted in.

He's justified being in Hereford as he considers that his home, well I'd be incredibly pissed off in Newark. They elect someone to represent them that lives hundreds of miles away, how can he possibly understand his 'local' community to represent them.

Trust me corabel I do not drive a total of 80 miles (40 there and back) to drop food involving a max 2 minute chat (that they can barely hear) from about 8 metres away as a “guise” to pop over and see them.

They are mid-70’s with co-morbidities (parkinsons, diabetes, heart failure). Yes, they are vulnerable.

Nobody has yet explained how I am “selfish and being unfair”. I am doing what I can to keep them isolating, in order to save lives and help the NHS. The police agreed. What, exactly, is it that you know what is really meant by the wording that I am clearly missing.

Agree Scrapper

Sad thing is Newark had a candidate on the final shortlist who had lived in the town for several years and really was deeply engaged with the community. I guess maybe he wasn't such a smooth talker on selection night, although I think it was close....but he would have been a vastly superior MP for the local area.

Also....wasn't Robert 'multiple mansions' Jenrick a housing minister until recently? Yes, he must have great insight into that.

He claimed that the multiple mansions were no barrier to understanding the plight of the unhoused. And that anyway, his wife paid for them.

Printing Patel has made it clear that the police are not supposed to be checking people's shopping. So the OP and others can stop worrying about them 'rummaging'.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/patel-warns-police-against-being-heavy-handed-z0ctqfbj3?shareToken=5b514fcf561bded36567d020108bed7f

Howtohelp you misunderstand me, you're exactly the sort of person the wording is aimed at. You are helping vulnerable people. I didn't mean you at all.

I meant people who are using this as an excuse to just drop by and visit. Which some people definitely are.