You can view Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below, or on the Sunderland Echo website.

You would think that jobs for the boys would be a thing of the past, but the Conservative Party have gone one step further and used the Coronavirus pandemic as a business opportunity to further line the pockets of their mates.

The Conservative Government have handed out almost £2 billion worth of taxpayers money for Covid contracts to friends and donors.

The most baffling of all being the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock’s former neighbour and pub landlord, supplying the Government with Covid-19 test parts, despite having no previous medical experience. The firm is now being investigated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The High Court ruled last month that the Health Secretary had acted unlawfully on transparency and failed to publish contracts on time.

But Matt Hancock has been quick to shrug this ruling off. Not only has he declared there was no foul play, he’s also tried to re-write history.

It isn’t even a year since we saw frontline workers on the news every day saying they were scared to go to work because they didn’t have the correct PPE. We saw images of our nurses and doctors using bin bags to protect themselves and issuing emotional pleas and warnings to the Government.

In response, the Government paid a pest control firm £59 million for 25 million facemasks, a hedge fund based in Mauritius £252 million for facemasks and paid a jeweller in Florida £70 million for gowns. None of these could be used.

Matt Hancock doesn’t remember that awful and desperate time and is keen that you forget about it too, but out of respect for our keyworkers on the frontline and the hundreds of NHS staff who died, we must ensure that we don’t forget or allow them to re-write history.

The Government must wind down its emergency procurement powers, reintroduce competitive tender and claw back the money on contracts that haven’t delivered.

In Government, Labour is committed to making the UK a world leader in transparency again by introducing an Independent Anti-Corruption Commissioner.

Contracts for cronies will be a thing of the past under a Labour Government.

Sunderland Echo website > 

You can read Sharon's Sunderland Echo column below or on the Sunderland Echo website

Last week’s schools chaos shows that the Government’s priorities do not lie with families.

Parents finding out at 8pm on a Monday night that their children wouldn't be going to school the next day, after being reassured the opposite, indicates a wider problem; the Government’s incompetence is leaving families behind.

Seeing children out of school is disappointing, but is now necessary. Schools are open to vulnerable children and those with essential worker parents, but this limited safe capacity has quickly been filled leaving schools under serious pressure.

Meanwhile, parents who cannot work from home are being told to remain at work, creating a childcare issue and leaving parents with the difficult decision of working and keeping their job or looking after their family.

On Wednesday, after pressure from Labour, the Chancellor updated the guidance to make these parents aware that they would be eligible for furlough. But this is at the discretion of employers. It also means a 20% pay-cut.

That’s just not good enough. Once again, working parents are left to juggle childcare and work. It isn’t fair on parents, school staff or children.

As we face the deepest recession of any major economy, we must protect family incomes.

Labour is calling on the Government to create an immediate right for parents to request paid flexible furlough.

Child poverty levels were striking pre-pandemic, with 35% of children in the North East living in poverty. This has now worsened, regional inequality has intensified, and Councils have been starved of income.

Despite this, Boris and Rishi want to cut Universal Credit, which will mean millions of families lose £1,000 a year and another 200,000 children put into poverty. They also plan a raise in council tax, landing every family an extra £90 on their bill.

This harsh austerity won’t help our region build back its economy. It won’t help parents and children build back our communities. It certainly won’t level us up.

Not only are the Tories proving their incompetence, but they are proving that families are not their priority.

Sunderland Echo website >

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Dec 2020-Jan 2021 number 135

You can read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or on the Sunderland Echo website

When Penshaw monument comes into view on the A1 or A19, you know you’re almost home.

The announcement of a coronavirus vaccine feels like that too.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Nov-Dec 2020 number 134

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Nov-Dec 2020 number 134

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Oct-Nov 2020 number 133

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Oct-Nov 2020 number 133

You can read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or on the Sunderland Echo website.

As the Government places Northern regions under experimental lockdown measures, without the financial backing to help them through, the North-South divide has never been so apparent.

But as people in our region know all too well, Tory neglect of the North predates Covid-19.

Local Authority budgets in our region have been savaged since 2010, exacerbating long-term regional inequalities between the North and South.

Shocking statistics from the End Child Poverty Coalition show that some of the largest increases in child poverty have come from Northern towns and cities, with the North East seeing the largest jump of any region in England.

In my constituency, 35% of children are growing up in poverty, an almost 9% increase since 2014/15.

This is before we even take into consideration the consequences of Covid-19, which has left the North East facing economic turmoil not seen since the days of Thatcher.

Families face significant economic uncertainty, and need reassurance that support will be there to help them care for their children and stop them from slipping into poverty.

However, the Government is threatening to slash the safety net even further, by scrapping the £20 uplift to Universal Credit in April, which will only make it harder to make ends meet and plunge our children into further hardship.

Tackling poverty and addressing its root causes needs to be at the heart of any Covid recovery plan, to ensure this pandemic does not commit a future generation to a life of deprivation.

The Government must urgently reform the social security net, and retain the £20 uplift in Universal Credit (UC) and apply this to other legacy benefits.

In the face of already unacceptable levels of child poverty, our country’s children are now at severe risk of being swept even deeper into deprivation.  Reforming UC and maintaining the £20 uplift would put much-needed cash into the pockets of Britain’s poorest families, helping them through this crisis, and would put us back on path to a fairer, more just society in the aftermath of this pandemic.

Sunderland Echo website >

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Sep-Oct 2020 number 132

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Sep-Oct 2020 number 132

You can read Sharon's recent Echo Column below or on the Sunderland Echo website.

Many families in our area have already been hit hard financially by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Yet, as they have done so often during this crisis, the Government recently overlooked the needs of working families in our region. Local lockdown measures were implemented at short notice, which effectively put an end to informal childcare arrangements.

This left parents who rely on support from grandparents, friends and family facing a choice between staying at home to care for their children and potentially losing their job, or finding formal childcare with no notice and no budget to pay for it.

Many constituents wrote to me to share their worries and anxieties. Families who were already often on low pay, particularly women and single parents, were left facing severe hardship. I wrote to Matt Hancock to raise their concerns, and asked the Government to reconsider.

Thankfully, Ministers relented, and have now said that informal childcare arrangements for those aged under 14 can continue, ensuring those who rely on them are not left under even more financial strain as we adjust to new local restrictions.

But whilst this decision has provided some relief to working parents, I know that for many of us the next few weeks will continue to be challenging. Local lockdown will keep friends and families apart, and businesses face renewed financial pressures.

Nobody wants to see any more restrictions on our daily life, but the concerning growth of this virus cannot be ignored.

I would therefore urge everyone to continue to follow local lockdown measures, which remain in place alongside the additional measures announced by Government. Please avoid visiting other people, only socialise with members of your own household, and only take essential journeys.

As ever, if any of my constituents have any concerns about these measures, please do email [email protected] and I will do all I can to help you.

Our region has felt the impact of Covid-19 more severely than many others. We must now do everything we can to slow the rate of infection, and protect the NHS, our most vulnerable, and the health of those around us.

Sunderland Echo website >

Update on Coronavirus – September 2020

 - As at 24 Sept 2020.



New measures have been introduced across the North East, including in our constituency, to try and bring down the rising number of Coronavirus cases.  New nationwide guidance has also been introduced, but please note the local measures override those.