A READER gets in touch to praise the work of former Redcar MP, Anna Turley.

ALTHOUGH former Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley may have misjudged the mood of her constituents regarding leaving the EU, her work tackling poverty in the area was second to none.

Anna will shortly become the new chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission (Echo, Feb 11) and I wish her well in this important voluntary role.

As a former Redcar Labour MP, Anna Turley was a true champion in tackling child poverty.

A frequent visitor to food banks, schools and children’s charities.

She also did some outstanding work on behalf of the sick and disabled in Redcar winning back almost £500,000 in lost benefits unfairly stripped by the Tory party.

To claim disability (be it ESA or PIP) one must score a certain amount of points. It would appear the government routinely award zero points regardless of a person’s health or condition in the hope no-one will appeal.

Depriving the sick and disabled of their entitlement is outrageous, so well done Anna for stepping in and championing the cause.

I just wonder how much money the Teesside Conservative MPs have claimed back for their constituents.

Very little given the fact every last one of them have systematically voted to cut or withdraw welfare payments.

My local MP Jacob Young even voted to axe free school holiday meals for underprivileged children. This despite his constituency of Redcar having one of the highest child poverty rates in the whole of the UK.

Stephen Dixon, Redcar.

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