NHS Covid pay, a missing MP and inappropriate behaviour: letters

Dear Sheryll Murray MP

I am writing to you with grave concerns that the government is going to remove special Covid sickness rules for NHS staff in the coming days. My fellow NHS colleagues have had to work tirelessly against a background of a decade of poor investment to fight a pandemic. Boris Johnson and his government failed to get the majority of calls right on Covid at pretty much every turn: from lack of PPE to poor PR (not least #partygate) which has led to a split in societal conformity to sensible rules.

We all still face the risk of infection every day, especially since the government removed all sensible protections such as mask wearing on public transport and in enclosed spaces, and free lateral flow testing was abandoned. The fruits of these decisions are now being harvested in the exponential growth, yet again, of Covid cases, with the very real expectations of yet another autumn wave.

Now if the government pushes through with removing the special Covid sickness leave many colleagues, particularly those with Long Covid, will be sanctioned for catching a disease through no fault of their own. Also it may compel some staff to feel they have to come to work when sick, risking the health of colleagues and more importantly the most vulnerable patients. If you take a cursory glance at A&E waiting times in the area (Derriford has eye-watering times tonight) then you will see that the last thing the NHS needs piling on it is more engineered pressures on staffing from sickness and stress.

This policy greatly risks the safety of those you represent and needs to be addressed urgently. This short sighted decision to remove the safety net for NHS staff recovering from a disease they have saved countless thousands from since 2020 should be reversed before it even gets implemented.  Please raise this concern to the relevant ministers as a matter of urgency. 

Kind regards, Carl Garner 


Dear West Country Voices,

You may be aware that my MP has had a little local difficulty.
I saw this in town today.
All the best
John

Somerton and Frome


Dear Sheryll Murray MP

Neil Parish and Matt Hancock had to resign from post due to inappropriate sexual encounters in their office. Why, then, is Boris Johnson , widely reported in the press to have been walked in on by another MP whilst having a sex act performed on him, whilst still married to another woman not expected to do the same?

To compound the matter he was having said sex act performed by his then mistress (now wife) for whom, to add to the sleaziness of the situation, he was at the time trying to secure a six figure publicly- funded job!

Two points need to be raised here: firstly, in any other profession, the guilty party would have been disciplined or sacked for having sex at work. Secondly, a man in politics who cannot keep his urges under control is a massive risk to national security! 

Why is his disgusting behaviour somehow different to the aforementioned individuals and somehow tolerated? Why is he not being asked to resign his post and leave Number 10 immediately?

It can’t be because of his fantastic ability to lead the country; he has proven time and again that he isn’t fit to lead a one man conga line. It’s definitely not to do with his electability anymore, as the recent by-elections have shown. (Can’t wait until general election time if he stays by the way, will be such fun seeing more safe seats obliterated by his toxicity).

So why is he still there? Just how many more scandals are we expected to put up with from this man who is so ridiculously out of his depth that he could not be trusted to empty waste paper bins unsupervised in my workplace (NHS)? 

He must resign or be removed for the good of the country! As previously I have copied others in with the hope that, one day, it may spur you on to actually take the views of those whom you represent on board and not simply send a copy and paste generic reply. 

Kind regards

Carl Garner 

Please do write to us: editor_@westcountryvoices.co.uk