Letter from Parliament - Liz McInnes MP

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Liz McInnes MP

As always, things have been busy both in parliament and here in Heywood & Middleton. One issue which has been much in the news is the debate on mitochondrial donation, or as some would have it, “Three Parent Families”. The debate really interested me, as a former clinical scientist, and I was fortunate enough to be able to speak, before the debate, with the eminent and dedicated scientists who have worked on this technique for over a decade. This helped me to make a really informed decision about how I would vote.

I do understand that this is a very emotive issue for some and I have considered the views of all those who took the time to write to me. I also spoke with parents who have suffered the early deaths of their children due to mitochondrial disease, who were full of hope that this new technique to prevent this illness might ensure that other families would not go through what they have suffered. This technique is not a way of creating “designer babies” but a method of preventing a child inheriting a debilitating and often fatal illness. It would be unethical, knowing now that we have the technology to prevent this illness, not to use this knowledge and that is why I voted in favour of allowing mitochondrial donation.

There is always something new to learn at Westminster and my latest learning experience was seeing filibustering in action. Filibustering is a way of talking through a Parliamentary Bill Committee so that the committee actually runs out of time and the Bill is never actually passed. I had heard about this practice but have never seen it done until recently. Those of you who have watched the excellent BBC documentary “Inside the Commons” will perhaps have seen Bury North MP David Nuttall and Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg engaging in a spot of filibustering in order to prevent a bill being passed.

I have been selected to sit on the NHS Amendment Bill Committee, which seeks to reverse the current privatisation of our NHS. It came as no surprise to be sitting opposite David Nuttall and Jacob Rees-Mogg, who have now spent a total of five hours discussing the best time and day to have a meeting, various dietary issues, and have meandered down several historical paths only to be brought back to the present day by the Chair. Filibustering is quite an art but it is frustrating to be involved in trying to implement a bill when the current government clearly does not want it to be passed and is throwing every obstacle in its way.

It has been my pleasure to visit Bowlee Community Primary School and to meet the children and teachers. The year 6 pupils performed their holocaust memorial poem for us in their state of the art digital room, which was a moving and impressive experience. The poem was really well written and mature and it is a credit to the teachers and pupils of the school that our young people can produce work of this quality.

It was also a pleasure to visit Woodside Working Men’s Club in Langley, to hand over a cheque for an amazing £8,600, raised by the members over the year during various fundraising events. The money will go to Grace’s Place, a children’s hospice in Radcliffe which serves our local area. It was a privilege to be able to award the cheque to the Chair of Trustees, Councillor Joan Grimshaw, and to give congratulations to everyone at Woodside for raising such an incredible amount.

I’ve also visited the Burnside Centre and the Demesne Centre and seen the wonderful community work done by the staff and volunteers. It’s great to see how local people really benefit from the work done by community centres and long may it continue. I’m looking forward to attending a Family Fun Day “Let's get together Heywood” organised by the local police this week and I’m sure I’ll see more communities working together at this event.