'This is not about politics' - Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan calls on district to work together through coronavirus recovery

People in Wakefield will need to put politics aside to help with the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the city’s MP has said.
People in Wakefield will need to put politics aside to help with the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the citys MP has said.People in Wakefield will need to put politics aside to help with the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the citys MP has said.
People in Wakefield will need to put politics aside to help with the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, the citys MP has said.

Imran Ahmad Khan, who was elected as Wakefield’s MP in December, says he has received “hundreds of letters a day” from constituents during the coronavirus crisis.

But as financial experts predict that the UK is heading for its worst recession in recorded history, Mr Khan says that Wakefield has been given an opportunity to reset its economy.

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He said: “There's rarely in one’s life chances to serve and help and I’ve tried my best to do so.

"[Being an MP] is exactly what it’s expected to be, a term when the whole purpose was to serve the people of Wakefield and to be a representative for them in our parliament.

“It’s a particular honour at a time when there is a real need.

“It’s just understanding what people need, getting things and getting people’s lives safeguarded and protected.

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“I want to use this to reset and repurpose our local economy, for us to not simply try and save it, but to reshape what Wakefield represents.

“For that it’s going to take a group activity. No individual can do what we need to do.

“We are in the middle of a national emergency and the recovery is going to be as challenging as the emergency has been. We need to set common objectives.

“I want to take the politics out of things. This is not about politics, it’s about something far more important, it’s about people's lives.”

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Mr Khan said he has received hundreds of letters a day from concerned constituents during the coronavirus pandemic.

It follows a busy few months for the constituency, including widespread flooding following Storm Ciara, and a devastating fire at the city's Speedibake factory in February.

His team are responding to as many queries as possible, but are “prioritising issues of life and limb”, he said.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Khan also confirmed his support for government adviser Dominic Cummings, who faced criticism over the weekend after it was reported he had driven from his home in London to County Durham after he and his wife developed symptoms of Covid-19.

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At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Mr Cummings told reporters that he had travelled in the interests of protecting his son, and believed he had acted “reasonably”.

Mr Khan confirmed that he believed Mr Cummings’ story, and said he believed the adviser had played a vital part in helping the government achieve Brexit.

Mr Khan said: “He is a man much hated. People haven’t forgiven him for getting Brexit done.

“He is not a member of the Conservative Party. He is just a citizen who happens to have a government job.

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“My responsibility is to the people of Wakefield. I am not the person who employed Dominic Cummings, I’m not his boss and he was not reporting to me.

"I leave it at that I trust him and I take the position he has told the truth.

“I have no reason not to believe Mr Cummings.”