The Prime Minister has written to me

Through my letter box a couple of days ago.

Do I trust the Tories on Brexit? No I do not.

From what we have seen of negotiations so far, the Tories are not going to get a good deal.

For a Brexit that works for working peope we need a Labour Government.

The PM has shown already that she puts political opportunism above everything when she called this General Election, in spite of the Fixed Term Parliament Act.

Labour has the vision, Labour's manifesto has been well received. In the meantime the Tories are seeing their poll leads shrink.

This election is far from over.

Stint number four

Stint number four at the homeless shelter. Always something to look forward to, always something to lift the heart, always a humbling experience.

 

Ashleigh Condon, helper/receptionis, with James Duddridge, Member of Parliament

Julian Ware-Lane with borrowed cup, and Gerald/Chris the cap's owner

The many guests, each with a story. 'Gerald' (who turned out to be a Chris); fun and musical. TJ, the tall, polite, serious Dane. Patricia, a mother hen in search of a brood. Kenneth, cheeky and humble. The recently pregnant young lady; quiet and self-contained. And more.

The visiting Member of Parliament I am sure learnt something, if only that privilege often creates ignorance. Yet who can even begin to know what it means to be homelessness. It means being cold, hungry, vulnerable, bored, ignored, invisible.

Well done to John Barber for managing this centre, for all the helpers who give of themeslves, for everyone for tolerating me.

Standing up or not, the indecipherable Mr Duddridge (or 'How to keep falling short')

Y'know, I have little patience for Tory policies but I try to avoid being personal, and I actually like many of Southend Tories. To be honest, Jimmy "I will skip whilst I trash your human rights" Duddridge is actually an affable chappie.

I had to smile at his latest email to me.

I wrote

Dear James Duddridge,
I believe important decisions about the whether the schools in our constituency become academies should lie with parents and teachers - not the government.
As my MP will you please stand up against the government's plans to turn all schools into academies? I'm counting on you to represent my views in Parliament.
Many thanks
Yours sincerely, Julian Ware-Lane

There followed my full postal address.

His office has responded thus:

Thank you for contacting me.

If you have an issue which you would like me to help you with, please ensure you have included your name and full address so I can ensure you are a constituent and write to you. If you have previously provided your address, my apologies however I will need you to confirm it again for Data Protection reasons.  If you are enquiring about an event invitation or tour of the House of Commons or Big Ben, please call my office on 01702 616 135. Finally, if you are writing in regards to a campaign you will most likely find a response to your concerns on the ‘Issues’ section of my website, which is detailed below.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me and for reading the above.

Yours sincerely,

James Duddridge MP

Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East

Not only is my inquiry ignored, but so is the fact that my address was included in my original email. And no, I do not want a tour of Big Ben, thank you very much.