My Grimsby Telegraph Article on the Steel Industry

Monday, 9 November, 2015

Articles

LAST Thursday I was in Scunthorpe when Anna Soubry, the minister responsible for the steel industry visited Scunthorpe.

Scores of workers at the steelworks are my constituents and Tata Steel has a site on Immingham Dock. This together with the impact on the supply chain that any reduction in output will cause makes it a major issue not just for Scunthorpe itself. The visit provided an interesting contrast with the previous week when the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn paid a visit. I don't criticise him for visiting but the response of his Party in Parliament and through the media has been entirely political. Of course it's what opposition parties do; they line up with those affected and criticise the government for not doing enough. What is done is always 'too little, too late'. To some extent that is inevitable, there's little more that opposition parties can do; it's those in power that can do things, they can help, but of course they can't work miracles; reality clicks in. But when jobs are lost and families fear for the future it's incumbent on opposition parties to work with governments for the good of the communities they represent. That's what has happened previously but the 'new politics' trumpeted by Mr Corbyn seems to see everything as political. The public can see through this very easily. My hope is that cross-party working that has worked well here in northern Lincolnshire will be restored.

Moving on, the recent reports that indicate a 30 per cent increase in traffic across the Humber Bridge since the reduction in tolls is great news for the area not just because it keeps an adequate income stream to maintain the Bridge but it justifies the decision by the then Transport Secretary, Justine Greening and Chancellor George Osborne in that they could see the impact lower tolls would have to boost the local economy. It's been good for business and individuals, in particular, those crossing the River for medical treatment. A few days after the 2010 General Election my colleague Andrew Percy and I were pictured at the Bridge saying it was our number one priority to reduce tolls. There had been a campaign running for over 20 years to get the tolls down to a more acceptable level. Local councils had worked with user groups such as Humber Action Against Tolls but, despite much hard work, all that had been achieved was occasional right-offs from the Bridge Board debts that were increasing year on year.

As with the issues within the steel industry it was Government that delivered. Government MPs may have taken the lead but, on this occasion, it was with cross-party support. Sometimes in politics you have to support your opponents - perhaps through gritted teeth – but if you want to benefit those you represent you have to work with those in power otherwise you become nothing more than a lobby group which is what the present Labour Party is in danger of becoming. At an event in Westminster last week I was talking with the former BBC and ITV political correspondent John Sergeant; and perhaps even more famous for his appearances on Strictly Come Dancing. He rightly noted that most of the public are not the slightest bit interested in many of the issues that are consuming politicians at any one time and it's certainly the case that the vast majority of e-mails from constituents received by MPs are standard messages issued through lobby groups. Yet when I speak to constituents at my street and supermarket surgeries these are not the issues raised. Much more it's issues that affect them day-by-day such as the state of the roads, parking, local schools, local policing etc.

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