I've written to the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about what needs to happen to ensure everyone has access to nutritious food, smaller food shops are supported alongside supermarkets, and how we shift to a sustainable, resilient and healthy food system

Dear Secretary of State,  

Coronavirus and the real difficulties it is creating for people continues to dominate my Inbox.  Even though the Government has rolled out unprecedented measures to support small businesses, employees and the self-employed, as well as some changes to the welfare system, there are still many people falling through the gaps, and their situation is becoming more and more desperate. 

Self-employed “summit”

The first week of the coronavirus lockdown, and many of us are having to get used to the new normal of staying at home and maintaining social distancing on the few occasions when we do go out.  It can be a stressful and quite scary time, especially for those who live alone or who are especially vulnerable.  Thank you to everyone who is doing so much to support them through this crisis.

A few weeks ago it would have been unimaginable to think that the whole world would pretty much be in lockdown, with borders closed, and people confined to their homes.

People from Brighton stranded overseas

I’m pleased the Government has listened in the last few days and lifted the arbitrary £30k cut off point, which threatened to leave millions of hardworking, self-employed people with nothing and having to rely on savings to get them through this crisis.  There was a glaring unfairness to this, and I’m relieved the Chancellor recognised this.

Food parcels for the most vulnerable. The Government is working with supermarkets to ensure food parcels are delivered to the most vulnerable who are unable to leave their homes.  Standardised food parcels will be delivered free to people’s homes for the next 12 weeks.

I have today written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to accept the outcome of her investigation and apologise for an inadvertent breach of the Code of Conduct.

Dear Chancellor,

The coronavirus is having a huge impact around the world.  In our country, it's leading to measures which none of us imagined we would ever see, including orders for people to self-isolate, real concerns over the ability of our public services to cope, major impacts on local businesses, and emergency legislation.

As your MP, I am taking action in 3 main ways:

Holding the Government and the health authorities to account