I am sure it will not come as a surprise to readers that my parliamentary mailbag is packed with correspondence from residents who have lost trust in politics. I absolutely understand this position and I believe it is imperative to have full confidence and trust in our political leaders. It is of course concerning to me that the current situation threatens to undermine the confidence which everyone rightly expects.

Along with colleagues, I am reflecting and discussing how we can best resolve matters and restore confidence, not least because there is a lot of good work going on within government and we cannot allow this to be damaged by errors of judgement. I recognise the sacrifices made by residents for the good of friends, family and neighbours, and they are right to feel terribly let down by the actions of some individuals, who should know better.

If we put recent events to one side and look at the national picture, there is so much being achieved within areas that I know residents care deeply about.

The economy, both locally and nationally, is thriving and creating more opportunity; there is more work available, both in terms of vacancies and increased hours, and we should be proud that there are more people on the payroll now than before the pandemic, despite its challenges.

Locally, we are also benefitting from the record investment in our National Health Service. Improvement funding has been allocated to Hillingdon Hospital and concrete steps are at last being taken to reassert Northwood and Pinner Cottage Hospital as an asset within our community.

Major investment in education will create more places for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Councils will be provided with £30 million for the next three years to set up over 10,000 additional respite placements that will support families with long term caring responsibilities. With several SEND schools in the constituency, I know this will make a real difference to local families.

I hope that over the coming weeks this is brought to a sensible conclusion and goes some way towards restoring the confidence that people should rightly be able to feel in their government.

First published: My Local News, February 2022