I wanted to start by thanking my residents for their great stoicism along with the kind comments on my work and the team’s regarding the absolutely horrific water outages and crucially what we do next.
My team and I, among others, were working around the clock to ensure residents were as up to date as possible and received all updates from my meetings with DEFRA and SE Water. The water is back in taps around East Grinstead and our villages but I’m aware pressure is still often low and a number of roads in East Grinstead have had some further outages - rest assured I am on the case and speaking with SE Water about this. Updates on their website plus I regularly update my Facebook page too - www.facebook.com/ConnectWithMims
I know EG trains are a constant cause for on-going concern for commuters. I’m regularly flagging residents’ deep concerns. This follows a particularly tough couple of weekends with engineering plus I’m aware of a technical fault affecting East Grinstead station where contactless payments, brough in om 4th December, are still causing passengers to be charged incorrect fares. An issue affecting passengers using contactless payment and travellers may be overcharged on certain journeys. Overcharges will be automatically refunded, backdated, and processed which should be well under way now. My team and I raised this issue with GTR and have been reassured customers do not need to act and are being refunded on a weekly basis.
Work is underway to correct the errors – GTR say a permanent fix will only be possible as part of a wider TFL ‘Fare Setting Round’- the next one scheduled in March. Replacement buses will run between East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport, and engineering work will affect the Brighton Main Line on consecutive weekends this month is still disrupting travel to and from London, Gatwick Airport, and parts of the Sussex Coast and carried on well into Monday this week.
The Darlington Nurses had to go to court to highlight their experiences of a “hostile, intimidating, humiliating, and degrading environment”. They with Sandie Peggie and Jenifer Melle and came to Parliament this week. This Labour Government needs to stop dragging their feet – hold the NHS to account & the Minister for Women, Bridget Phillipson MP, and the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, must act on protecting women at work or going about their daily business. So, we don’t have to use the courts to get our safety, dignity, and privacy safeguarded.
Labour must stop hiding.
Urgently give women the clarity & surety of their legal rights without them having to take legal action because the legal guidance is in place and public sector organisations like the NHS need to obey the law. As Shadow Minister for Women – we must support small minorities of course - however, I stand strongly with women and girls who are fed up with their rights and privacy being eroded. Nobody should ever choose not to act when it comes to women’s safety and dignity.
