MP oversteps the boundary

I stumbled across this oral question from Labour MP Dave Anderson in the House of Commons to Health Secretary Alan Johnson on 24th March:


"Will the Secretary of State look into the situation where Newcastle hospitals have withdrawn from the joint partnership on laundry services with the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Gateshead in my constituency?"


The question was a reasonable one to ask. Newcastle have decided to ship their laundry 200 miles down the road to put it through the washing machine. From an environmental perspective, it doesn't make sense. The explanation to the reason for sending dirty linen such as distance probably lies with simple costs.

That however, is not the reason I raise this. I just thought I would point out to Mr Anderson that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is not is his constituency. It is, infact, a modest distance to the boundary!

So, just to be helpful, I'm thinking of pointing out Mr Anderson's need for geography lessons in future copies of Focus!

Perhaps Mr Anderson was launching an invasion to save the poor people of Gateshead East from being represented by Labour MP Sharon Hodgson (though she has been dumped by the Gateshead Labour Party as candidate for the next general election). She altruism does you proud Dave!