Category: News & Articles
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December 24, 2021
Christmas Card Competition Winners
Earlier this year, Julian launched his Christmas card competition by inviting school children up to Year 4 to send me their festive designs. As you can expect, the competition was very tough and deciding only one winner with two runners-up was difficult. Julian is thankful to all students who took part and to their teachers […] -
December 18, 2021
Worries about a ‘lockdown by stealth’ for hospitality sector
In response to emails received overnight, Julian stands with the hospitality sector and calls for the end of mixed messages which is leading to a ‘lockdown by stealth’: “I am hearing worrying reports from York of restaurants, pubs and bars seeing significant drops in custom last night compared to only a week ago. As York […] -
December 17, 2021
Julian joins 73,000 York residents by getting boosted
Today Julian joined the 25 million people nationally and the 73,000 people in York who have received their booster jab to top-up their protection against covid-19. Julian has always been clear that our route out of the pandemic is through a successful vaccination programme and he was reassured to see so many people coming to […] -
December 15, 2021
York Press column – Omicron must not spoil a normal Christmas
As Christmas looms, I appreciate York residents may be feeling a sense of ‘déjà vu’, with rising virus cases again leading the government to tighten covid measures for the festive season. However, thanks to our vaccine shield and booster rollout, the situation is vastly better than December 2020, with ‘Plan B’ rules proposed to tackle […] -
December 14, 2021
My votes on Plan B coronavirus measures
This evening, I voted against Government proposals for ‘vaccine passports’ for some venues and against mandating vaccination for frontline health workers, but reluctantly supported Ministers on reintroducing compulsory indoor mask wearing. I believe this strikes the right balance between addressing the omicron infection wave, the precise effect of which remains uncertain at this stage, and […] -
December 9, 2021
Proposed further coronavirus measures
Although I support proportionate measures to tackle rising omicron infections, I also have significant reservations about moving back towards restrictions, especially anything that divides the public by vaccination status. I will have to look carefully at the detailed proposals before I decide the extent to which I can support the government in votes on this […] -
December 9, 2021
Statement on alleged Covid rule breaches in Downing Street
I share the concerns of many local people that Covid regulations may have been broken at a Christmas party in Downing Street last year. Yesterday, it was announced that the Cabinet Secretary, the head of the civil service, will be asked to investigate exactly what happened and the extent to which the Prime Minister was […] -
December 8, 2021
Julian presses for government action on pandemic-style antibiotic resistance threat
Julian yesterday used a parliamentary debate on antibiotic resistance to urge Health Ministers to take further steps to tackle this serious public health challenge, which has the potential to be even more dangerous than coronavirus. Antibiotic resistance is when disease bacteria change in response to antibiotics being used against them, and become able to resist […] -
December 7, 2021
Julian asks the Treasury to confirm that they are ready to grant final funding to build a new station in Haxby
Julian has today raised the progress of the funding to build a new station in Haxby with Simon Clarke MP, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Speaking in the House of Commons, Julian pointed to the importance of local rail connections to regional growth and stressed that connecting more towns to the network should be […] -
December 7, 2021
53,000 covid booster vaccinations across York
Julian has welcomed the latest figures showing 53,811 York residents have already had a covid booster injection or third vaccine dose. Additional vaccine injections on top of the first two are vital to protect life and health, and keep everyday life functioning as normal, particularly given the uncertain threat posed by the latest omicron virus […]
