Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Balance the BBC
A heavy week
That was a fairly grim week, during which Russian drones flew into Polish airspace, Israel struck Hamas leaders in Qatar and killed a Qatari citizen in the process, an American political commentator was assassinated leaving a wife and young family, and over one hundred thousand people went to Central London to attend a rally organised by the far right.
Whilst this was going on, the government had to sack Peter Mandelson as its US Ambassador, having lost Angela Rayner as deputy Prime Minister the week before precipitating a major government reshuffle where a number of ministers (who I thought were doing a decent job) got sacked.
I expect that most readers of the Monday Mail knew all of this already, so I won’t dwell on it, except to say we are in very troubled and dangerous times, and that sits heavily with me and all my colleagues in Parliament.
Balance the BBC
Against this backdrop, did you know that Nigel Farage accounts for 60% of the BBC’s mentions of opposition leaders, and yet Reform has just 4 of the 250 opposition MPs in the House of Commons?
We’ve had enough of the BBC giving Reform far too much coverage because the BBC as our national broadcaster should be balanced.
St Peter and St James
On Thursday afternoon, it was a pleasure to join supporters, families, trustees and patrons at a Golden Garden Party in the grounds of the St Peter and St James Hospice. This year they are celebrating 50 years of providing palliative care to Sussex residents. I heard the first doctor to work at the hospice talk very engagingly about the early years, and learnt more about the hospice’s plans for the future.
NHS funding for hospices is low and it is a postcode lottery. Whilst nationally 30% of hospice funding comes from the NHS, St Peter and St James receives just 13% of their funding from the NHS. Rising staffing costs, and other inflationary pressures increasingly squeeze hospices’ finances, and as a result they are unable to provide their care to everyone who could benefit from it.
Next weekend, I will be proposing the Liberal Democrats’ new policy on hospices at our Autumn Conference in Bournemouth. You can read the policy here.
The children’s hospice sector has unique pressures too. Thankfully fewer children need support from a hospice than the adult population, but this means that each children’s hospice supports families from a much wider geographical area. As a result they rely on numerous ‘Integrated Care Boards’ or ICBs for elements of their NHS funding, and the amount neighbouring ICBs will grant varies hugely. The government is being slow to confirm the details and timing of next year’s children’s hospice grant, and there is growing concern from the children’s hospice sector about their financial viability. In order to push the government to address these concerns I have secured a debate in October on government support for children’s hospices.
Ben for Mayor of Sussex?
Congratulations to Ben Dempsey who will be the Liberal Democrat candidate to become the first mayor of Sussex.
Ben and I have known each other for many years first as volunteers and then as councillors. I have huge respect for his integrity, intellect and commitment to working across party lines to get the best outcomes for residents.
If you want to get involved with his campaign, do volunteer here.
Getting in touch
My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch.
Best wishes,
Alison
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