Dear Editor,
I’m writing as a concerned resident who feels increasingly let down by our local MP in Southampton. If our MP wishes to insult me for peacefully protesting, that’s her prerogative, but it does nothing to address the real issues we’re raising. Not once has she attended the protest, nor replied to any of the emails I and others have sent. There seems to be no interest in dialogue or understanding what’s happening in our own community. It is not far right or racist to want a safe community for our children in the area. It’s perfectly rational.
It makes you wonder what’s the point of having a local MP at all, if they simply parrot the national party line and ignore the people they’re supposed to represent. Once upon a time, MPs rode to Parliament on horseback to speak up for their towns. Now, they feel remote and entirely out of touch with everyday concerns.
Why isn’t our representative standing up for the residents of Avondale Court, who have been affected by the migrant hotel? Why does she seem more interested in defending those who have come here illegally than the law-abiding people she was elected to serve?
It’s telling when the only response an MP can muster is to insult her own constituents. We deserve better representation—someone who listens, engages, and actually stands up for our community, not another highly paid public sector worker who seems to have little time for real people.
I note the MP in question voted against the Grooming gang inquiry in January in line with the whip. Something the government then changed course on. It seems certain members of Parliament are more concerned about climbing the parliamentary ladder and making their party leaders happy than doing the right thing and truly representing their community and the people of this once great country.
Perhaps with technology we dont even need a local MP anymore to vote on our behalf, the days of horseback are long gone.
Yours sincerely,
A concerned Southampton resident
