Blogs - Andy McDonald MP

Supporting Middlesbrough businesses

Businesses have obviously been impacted by the pandemic and have had to look for financial help through grants, nationally and locally. Unfortunately, there have been a number of small businesses who have initially been refused grants due to uncertainty around eligibility for their type of business, causing financial hardship during…

International Workers’ Memorial Day

Today I attended the annual Workers’ Memorial Day event in Hartlepool to remember all those who have lost their lives while at work. Health and safety is a workers’ fundamental right but too often employees are still denied the most basic of health and safety protections. The trade union movement…

Reaction to the Budget

This year more than ever, families and businesses were looking for assurances, support and certainty from the Budget. The extension of the furlough scheme until the end of September is welcome news for people in Middlesbrough but this should have been confirmed before now to alleviate the uncertainty and fear…

Riverside Stadium to host mass vaccination centre

The news that the Riverside Stadium will be the venue for Middlesbrough’s mass vaccination centre is wonderful news. I have been calling for Middlesbrough to have such a facility in order for more people to be able to have access to a vaccine site locally. This will help support…

Middlesbrough Station on track for direct link to London

Middlesbrough Railway Station is at the heart of my constituency and a vital link to the rest of the country. Improving rail connectivity has been something I have campaigned for since being elected back in 2012 as I have long since been convinced of the huge economic benefits that will…

Advice surgery for Under 25s

I will be holding an advice surgery specifically for younger people who have been hit by the Covid pandemic. Figures released this week from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the unemployment rate is at the highest level in almost five years. The UK’s unemployment rate rose to 5.1…

Centre Square plans show Middlesbrough is ready to house the Northern Campus

Ashall Projects have unveiled fabulous new proposals for Centre Square (Image below). The commitment shown to Middlesbrough by Mark Ashall and his team in recent years has been superb but this takes that expression of confidence to another level. Not only is this a hugely positive and attractive proposition, but…

Visit to vaccination site at James Cook Hospital

I had the absolute pleasure and privilege to visit the vaccination centre at James Cook University Hospital this week. Talking to anaesthetic consultant Andy Maund, matron Paula Taggart and interim director of nursing Moira Angel, I heard first-hand about the incredible work they are all doing – it takes a…

Letter to the Chancellor: Back the Boro Bid

Below is my latest correspondence to the Chancellor as I continue to lobby for the proposed Campus of the North to come to Middlesbrough. Dear Chancellor, RE Campus for the North- Back the Boro Bid. I write to you once more as we head towards the Budget and the…

The Brexit deal vote

I am voting for this deal today. But this is not the deal that anyone on Labour’s benches welcome. We accept the deal but it’s not one that we support or one that we would have negotiated, but sadly the alternative of “No Deal” is even worse. When this is…

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