An Open Letter to my M.P.

Dear Mr Holden,

I am a resident of Weardale.
I wasn't born here, but I live here now.
An incomer like you!
I can't think of anywhere better to be at this time.
The people are direct and independent minded.
The neighbours are very kind, and others in the village too.
To be honest I have had more and deeper conversations than ever before.

I was born in a cottage hospital in the New Forest 5 years after the War, when we battled against the odds to preserve our democratic rights against fascism.

The route from there to here is long and tortuous and not pertinent to this letter.

Six years ago I was lucky enough to be part of a well-loved project in the Dale.

Since we had a community transport operation at the Hub, volunteer minibus drivers, passenger assistants and organisers, we decided to find group rates from nearby and (further afield) restaurants  and invite residents of all ages to lunch, with door-to-door transport provided. Take up was enthusiastic and mostly from the elders. They asked about assisted shopping, so we did that.
Trips to cinema and theatres? That too. Two or three trips each week were the norm. Some said it transformed their lives.

Some died each year, mostly content to pass, having enjoyed their final years.
Some, with pre-existing conditions, had episodes on the trip.
Some had DNR forms with them.
They were happy to risk it for the sake of the company.
It was really about loneliness anyway, the food, whilst better and fresher than some of the factory produced alternatives, was secondary.

Then came the virus and the Fear.
The operation stopped.
The elders were instructed to go indoors and stay there for their own safety.
No hugs from children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren or anyone.

Nobody consulted them. Nobody offered them a choice.

Cruel.

More than that: Cruel and unusual punishment of the most vulnerable, respected members of the community.

I am not angry. It goes far deeper than that. It's an outrage.

It's not for me to speak for them. Ask them for yourself. You are their only route to Whitehall.

My request is for some answers from the cabinet, struggling to amend the new law on the hoof, in response to the changing situation. I hear the P.M. is due back from sick leave soon. Please ask him. He knows about democracy from the ancient Greeks.

I don't keep a T.V. and don't listen to the wireless much, but heard a passionate warning from Lord Sumption, retired Supreme Court Justice, who saw us slipping into a police state.

I have more confidence in the Police Force in these parts. I knew their senior officers well enough and found them highly intelligent and compassionate. They know that a heavy hand now will take years to repair. Though a recent bulletin did advise us to reduce nuisance calls to 999 ...  petty calls about neighbours' behaviour, like being outside more than deemed legal. Fear driven. Unlikely to derive from the Dale, but you never know.

So, in conclusion, since time is short, please speak up in support of the elders, who have shown me so much love these past few years.

Not for me, not even for them, but for their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who inherit what we leave them.

Sincerely,

Steve Day
Stanhope
Weardale.

Question everything. Be kind.