A Week in Parliament

Tory Sleaze

News emerged over the behaviour of Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing and Local Communities. A £1bn development had been turned down by a local council. It was called in for a decision by the UK Government – his planning inspectors advised it should be turned down. Yet, the day before a clause kicked in that would have cost the developer £40m towards critical infrastructure the Secretary of State signed off approval for the planning application. It then transpires that by “sheer coincidence” the development owner had been at a Tory fundraising dinner that Jenrick was at and the developer subsequently donated money to the Tories.

Only when Tower Hamlets council started court proceedings over the sequence of events did Jenrick admit the decision was unlawful and did show “apparent bias”. What are the consequences for the Secretary after all this? Nothing. In an urgent question in parliament the UK Government were defending his actions. Incredible. This really is a shameless government of low talent, low standards and it is shameful they have been foisted upon Scotland. Yet again, it is one rule for them and one for us.

Food Standards

My office has been inundated with people expressing concerns about the prospect of a trade deal with the United States. Others have been lobbying for a food standards commission to be set up in order to ensure the highest standards are maintained. One fear is imports of chlorinated chicken.  These chickens are not reared with proper welfare standards, with the chlorine used to kill any bacteria and make it safe to eat. It will be cheaper, so will also undercut all the UK chicken producers. In parliament, the cabinet minister, Penny Mordaunt stated that we should trust the consumers as they do not want such products. Isn’t this a clear warning that the Tories will sign any kind of trade deal?

Price Gouging

One disappointing behaviour during the pandemic has been people profiteering by hiking up prices due to shortages and demand, blatantly ripping people off. A report by Which? has confirmed that this is another area the UK lags behind many other developed countries in. There is insufficient legislation and enforcement powers to tackle such actions. In Greece, the Development Ministry issued fines totalling €113,500 between 24 and 26 March for profiteering. This shows how it should be done and yet again this illustrates that the UK Government lets us down.

Brexit

The UK Government have refused to listen to reason and extend the transition period for keeping the same rules and regulations as the EU. They are also risking a no deal crash out once more. However, they are so unprepared for this that they have confirmed thy will relax checks for about 6 months. This means Animal products may not immediately need health certificates; agricultural goods won’t need to arrive through border inspection posts. So it really could be a smugglers free for all for stuff coming into the UK. once again this proves what they say and what they do are completely different.