Friday brief: Gen Kitchen MP reports ‘stalking’ to police
Friday brief: Gen Kitchen MP reports ‘stalking’ to police
Our regular end of the week news round up
The county’s newest MP Gen Kitchen has made stalking referrals to the police, according to the Labour Party.
The MP was elected in February to represent the Wellingborough and Rushden constituency after Peter Bone was removed from office following a bullying case. A Labour spokesperson said:
“She has had to make a number of referrals to police unfortunately, for behaviour that could be classified as stalking. She has taken security advice from Parliament.”
We had contacted her office asking questions about her availability to constituents following Finedon resident Mick Callus saying he thought the new MP had ‘cut herself off’ after being voted into office.
He says he had visited her campaign office three times before she had been elected, to ask for her views on the NHS pay rise issue and did not receive a response as promised. Since she was elected he has emailed her twice and received an automated reply with no follow up. He saw her last weekend at the Kettering Energy Park event and claims she told him that she had received four death threats recently and would only be seeing constituents about NHS issues.
Since being elected ten weeks ago, unlike Damien Egan MP, who was elected on the same day, she has not put details of her Westminster or constituency office on the parliamentary website. In George Galloway, who was elected a few weeks later, has set up his office and has phone numbers on his page.
Before being elected she pledged to hold surgeries on a Friday, claiming ‘it’s what Fridays are for’ but it appears constituents will have to wait to be contacted to know where and when the surgeries will be. They will then have to make an appointment.
Helen McCulloch said:
“Gen had a constituency surgery last Friday, and she’s holding another one tomorrow. They are then every other Friday, by appointment only. The surgeries are being held in different venues around the constituency, and constituents are informed of nearby surgeries three weeks in advance by letter. Her contact details are her parliamentary email address gen.kitchen.mp@parliament.uk
“Her parliamentary website is being updated.”
A man was jailed this month for a campaign of harassment against city of Chester MP Samantha Dixon.
Read this story from our archive
News in brief
A petition calling for more government support for the country’s steel industry will be handed to local politicians in Corby today.
The event is part of a campaign by union Unite to get the government to bring in new rules so that public works contracts must use UK steel and also invest in new technology for the industry, which has suffered huge job losses in recent years.