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.

October saw a key vote on the government’s Agriculture Bill and a motion on free school meals following a high-profile campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.

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.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:

• On October 5, Mr Jones voted with the government on the second reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. The bill looks to provide the power for covert intelligence sources to commit a criminal offence in their duty if necessary, according to the government website.


• At Prime Minister’s Questions on October 7, Mr Jones urged Boris Johnson to give a support package to the conference sector. Jones said the the exhibition industry was “really important in Harrogate and Knaresborough”. However, the Prime Minister did not commit to any firm support.


• On October 12, Mr Jones voted against an amendment to the Agriculture Bill which would have forced any future trade deal to meet UK food safety and animal welfare requirements. The vote came after demonstrators gathered outside his office in Harrogate urging him and other MPs to agree the amendment.


• Mr Jones posted a plea on his website for people to wear a face mask when travelling on buses run by the Harrogate Bus Company. It was his only post throughout October.


• On October 20, Mr Jones asked Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, whether a blanket national lockdown was wrong. Mr Hancock agreed that it was.


• Mr Jones voted against an opposition motion to extend the provision of £15-a-week school meal vouchers throughout the October half term through to the Easter 2021 holidays. Following a backlash, Mr Jones responded in the local press and in a local Conservative news bulletin email. The email, which the Stray Ferret has seen, said: “I know that many of you will have seen the coverage about free school meals during the holidays in the news lately. I hope that people who know me, or who have been helped by me, would realise that I would not vote to increase child hunger or ensure children starve.”


• Mr Jones’s Twitter account now been set to “retweets only”.

Read more:

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  MPs watch: Care home visits, the Brexit bill and a visit to Ripon Cathedral

  
  

In Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• Mr Smith voted in line with the government on the second reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill on October 5.


• Mr Smith posted a response on his website from Harrogate Borough Council on concerns over transport on October 16. It was his only post on the site throughout the month.


• Mr Smith tweeted 11 times in October. He published two Facebook posts, one of which was a response from North Yorkshire CCG to the proposed 1,300-home Ripon Barracks scheme. Last night Mr Smith tweeted his support for the county council's solution to care home visits. 


• On October 12, Mr Smith voted against the amendment to the Agriculture Bill.


• Mr Smith spoke just twice in the House of Commons in October. His last contribution was on October 12 when he urged the Prime Minister to come up with “creative solutions” for loved ones to see relatives in care homes.


• Mr Smith voted against the opposition motion on free school meals on October 21.

In rural south Harrogate, he is what we found on Mr Adams:

• On October 5, Mr Adams tweeted that as Minister of State at the Foreign Office he spoke with Indonesia Deputy Foreign Minister, Mahendra Siregar, about how the two countries could work more closely together.


• Mr Adams has tweeted 21 times in October.


• Mr Adams voted against the amendment to the Agriculture Bill. In a post on his website, he defended his decision. He said: “Several people have been in touch who appear to have been misled into thinking that Tuesday’s vote on the Agriculture Bill was somehow a vote against our high food standards. This is not the case. In fact, the amendment to the bill which was defeated was well meaning but I believe unnecessary as well as having some negative unintended consequences.”


• On October 15, Mr Adams tweeted that the UK would continue to support the Rohingya people who have “faced systemic brutality” and been forced to leave their homes.


• Since the start of the month, Mr Adams has posted five times on his website. Posts include further funding for his constituency and coronavirus tier advice.


• Mr Adams appeared in the House of Commons seven times in October to answer questions and make statements on such topics as Hong Kong National Security Law and the South China Sea.


• Mr Adams voted against the opposition motion on free school meals on October 21.