I HAVE recently written to David Warburton, the Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome, asking five questions that I think we all want the answer to.

I am hoping that by publishing the letter in your esteemed organ we all might get a reply...

David,

It has now been 10 months since the people of Somerton and Frome returned you to represent them in Parliament.

The period since has been a tumultuous one. We didn't know as we campaigned against each other, that a public health crisis was looming.

It is certainly one that would have challenged any government.

It has, however, highlighted certain short comings in the Government you support. Short Cummings (sic) that I feel, as our elected representative, you should explain.

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1) When did you realise that the 'oven-ready' Brexit deal 'didn't make sense'? The quotes are both Mr Johnson's.

Was it during the campaign? Was it the week before last, when Mr Cummings explained that was the new line? Either way, you misled the people of Somerton and Frome, and the question is when will you be apologising for misleading them?

2) Historically, people associate the Conservative Party with law and order. Our international reputation has previously been impeccable as an upholder of law.

Sadly this is no longer the case.

The question then is, why have you voted with the Government to pass laws that break international treaties?

3) In your brief period as a PPS you were in the Department of Education.

They seem to be missing your experienced and steady hand. Firstly, they created an absolute fiasco out of the GCSE and A level results this summer.

On Monday we found out they are now banning the use of materials from 'anti-capitalist sources'.

Governments that bury all forms of thought other than their own have some very unsavoury historical predecessors.

The question to you David, as a teacher, is how can you support a government that burns books?

4) I appreciate that in finding our way through this health crisis we need to balance health priorities against those of the economy.

So David, I feel forced to ask you why do you suppose it is that, in this country, we have both the highest death rate and the most severe damage to our economy?

5) In dealing with this health crisis, normal tendering processes have been abandoned and a remarkable number of high value contracts have been awarded to companies with direct links to the Government.

This has been true for PPE provision, track and trace, and most disastrously, testing. The provision has been appalling and the profiteering little short of criminal.

We now approach the period in which the whole country must be vaccinated.

Vaccination will require storage, distribution, accreditation, application and monitoring.

Somerset County Gazette:

QUESTIONS: From Sean Dromgoole. PICTURE: Somerset Labour

So David, I must ask what steps have you taken to make sure the provision of vaccines is managed equitably for public health not just profitably for Mr Cummings' friends?

I am sure you appreciate that many back here in Somerton and Frome, where they elected you, want to know the answers to the above questions.

SEAN DROMGOOLE
Labour Parliamentary Spokesperson for Somerton and Frome

NOTE: Mr Dromgoole ran for the Labour Party in the 2017 and 2019 General Elections as a candidate in the Somerton and Frome constituency