Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.
On November 4, our three MPs voted in favour of a month-long lockdown for England, which has dominated life in the district ever since.
We asked Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, Ripon MP Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but we did not receive a response from any of them.
Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.
Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.
In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:
- On November 4, Mr Jones voted to bring in a one-month lockdown in England. Two weeks prior to the vote, Mr Jones asked Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, whether a blanket national lockdown was wrong. Mr Hancock agreed that it was.
- MPs will vote again tomorrow to end the lockdown and move into a tiered system to tackle coronavirus.
- Mr Jones intervened to help overturn parking fines at St James’s Retail Park in Knaresborough. Motorists received fines from management company, HX Car Park Management Ltd, after parking in bays that did not have the usual barriers, markings or shelter.
- Posting on his website, Mr Jones hailed the latest out-of-work benefit figures for Harrogate, which fell by almost 300.
- He welcomed government funding of over £400,000 to 20 local charities.
- He did not tweet in November as his account is now set to “retweets only”. He does not have a Facebook page.
- Mr Jones was busy in the House of Commons, speaking 21 times.
- On November 12 in the House of Commons, the MP asked what the government has planned for the Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022. He said: “In the long history of our nation’s monarchs, Her Majesty is one of the greatest ever, and her platinum jubilee will be a significant and wonderful moment”.
- In the House of Commons, Mr Jones said King James’s secondary school in Knaresborough was spending £7,000 a week on covid costs.
Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.
In Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:
- Like Mr Jones, Mr Smith voted in line with the government to bring in a lockdown on November 4. There were 35 Tory rebels.
- Mr Smith was in Ripon on Remembrance Sunday to lay a wreath.
- Mr Smith tweeted 20 times in November.
- The former Northern Ireland secretary tweeted that the election of Joe Biden as US President was “great news” for the country. He said the Democrat Party “consistently stand up for the protection of all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.”
- Mr Smith spoke once in Parliament. On the issue of care home visits, he asked the Prime Minister to look into things like the idea of a designated family member who would be tested regularly and able to visit.
- On November 24, the MP posted a response from Harrogate Borough Council’s chief executive Wallace Sampson regarding the Ripon Barracks housing development. Mr Sampson said senior councillors are encouraging Homes England, who is developing the site, to “frontload the delivery” of junction improvements.
- On November 2, Mr Smith issued a press release welcoming the government’s promise that Parliament scrutinises each new post-Brexit free trade for its impact on animal welfare and British farming before it’s ratified.
- The MP for Ripon said he is supporting property owners and tenants in their call for urgent action over homes in danger of collapse in the city.
Read more:
- MPs watch: Free school meals, food safety and lockdowns
- MPs WATCH: Care home visits, the Brexit bill and a visit to Ripon Cathedral
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.
In rural south Harrogate, he is what we found on Mr Adams:
- The minister for Asia also voted in line with the government for the national lockdown.
- He tweeted 24 times in November, including paying his respects to footballers Diego Maradona and Ray Clemence who both died.
- Ahead of a planning committee hearing into 72 homes in Spofforth, Mr Adams’ office confirmed to the Stray Ferret that he had made representations to councillors ahead of their decision, which was to ultimately refuse the plans.
- At the beginning of the month, he retweeted a picture from HBC councillor Andy Paraskos showing the village of Cattal flooded.
- In various written answers to MPs, he said the government has raised human rights issues with different countries – including the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar and the persecution of religious groups in China.
