This week started with a series of Eat out, hand out, speak out and hold your nose events.
I kicked off the Chancellor’s excellent ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme with a family dinner at The Fish Factory, one of Worthing’s finest run by Andy Sparsis, aka Mr Worthing. Food and service were excellent as usual, and it was good to see a busy restaurant again and even better to hear that bookings for our local eateries are quickly filling up throughout August. So, if you want to take advantage of the deal being offered by over 100 establishment in and around Worthing alone you had better get your skates on.
Earlier in the day I handed out one of my Coronavirus Community Champions Awards to pharmacist Shabbir Jafferali and his hard-working staff Julie, Helen and Sarah at the Wilmshurst Pharmacy in Crabtree Lane, Lancing. I had several nominations for the shop that has been working around the clock to make sure everyone had their prescriptions during the lockdown, and it was particularly poignant as the award was for the whole team including Naomi who sadly passed away a few weeks ago.
On Tuesday morning I joined a rally in support of British Airways workers in Shoreham. All airlines are obviously under pressure at the moment but the former ‘World’s Favourite Airline’ appears to have taken advantage of the pandemic crisis to make 12,00 staff redundant on particularly ungenerous terms and then fire the rest before re-employing them on greatly reduced terms. With Gatwick on our doorstep we are facing a ‘double whammy’ of job losses and the many BA employees living in my constituency have written to me.
A recent report from the Commons Transport Select Committee pulled no punches in its observations: ‘British Airways current consultation on staffing changes is a calculated attempt to take advantage of the pandemic to cut jobs and weaken the terms and conditions of its remaining employees. The behaviour of BA and its parent company towards its employees is a national disgrace.’ I agree and I have been happy to join the cross-party campaign to back the employees. After we leave the Brexit transition period the Government will have more autonomy to take back some of BA’s coveted airport slots. I couldn’t resist a wry smile when the pro-Remain trade union organisers behind the rally had to announce this as a bonus of Brexit.
Finally, the ‘hold your nose’ bit was my visit to the East Worthing Waste Water Treatment Plant after complaints from local residents about the terrible pong that has engulfed the area recently. It turns out it is down to Parvacella, which although it sounds like a form of pasta, is in fact a form of bacteria which should sink to the bottom of the sewage tanks but has stubbornly been floating on top. There are more details on the battle against the pong in a video on my Facebook page.
See you at the Shoreham Farmer’s Market for our street surgery again on Saturday in Tarmount Lane.
