THE CUMBRIAN MP MYSTERY

By Phil Letterboxes

THREE days after her General Election victory in Carlisle, Labour MP Julie Minns told her Facebook followers that she would be a “Visible and accessible MP.”

Of three “promises” she made to voters on her website, one was that she would be a “Visible MP” and the other was: “My office and my home will be in Carlisle.”

Nearly seven months after that election success, the whereabouts of her mysterious underground bunker in Carlisle is a matter of open speculation.

And some are also wondering whether her commitment to having a “home” in the city is the same as, er, actually living in it!

Even the local “newspaper” doesn’t know for sure where the public of Carlisle should go if they want to see their MP face-to-face.

A month back, The News & Scar, ran a story about a member of the public accusing her office of playing silly buggers.

Rather like the mythical kingdom of Camelot, there are doubts about whether her Carlisle office exists at all.

The MP said she was setting one up last July but has yet to file any expenses for specific office running costs, such as business rates, cleaning services, rent, utilities, or a landline phone.

Unhelpful contributors to the debate have also claimed that she “lives in London” – claims which have so far not been publicly denied nor investigated fully by the newspaper, upon whose website these accusations have been made time and again.

It is not uncommon for a working MP to be required in London given that that’s where the House of Commons is!

Nor could anyone expect the MP to commute back and forth every day from remote Carlisle.

The intrigue seems to be whether “Jools” is truly measuring up to last year’s promises of being “visible and accessible.”

And if the catch-all excuse of “security” is the reason for this nocturnal activity, then those standing for public office should probably give serious thought to whether a role in modern-day politics is really the right career for them.

THE MP faithfully meets the Carlisle public at her twice-a-month advice surgeries.

And those living in the North Cumbria sticks of her constituency used to have the option of meeting HRH twice a month where they could argue the toss over the price of beetroot or the Farm Inheritance Tax.

However keen observers in North Cumbria have just pointed out that these twice-a-month meet & greets with rural voters have just been delicately cut to one day per month or a 50% reduction.

***No you can’t borrow a cup of sugar***

No one knows why. Have local agricultural types stopped attending in light of her vote on the farm tax? Or does the home-grown Carlisle MP have other places to be?

Just last week she was raising awareness in the House of Commons about the “inaccessibility” of polling stations to people with disabilities.

And it is clear from her speech that the “democratic” rights and “barriers” faced by voters are subjects very close to her heart.

But she has yet to make any statements about the “barriers” voters face in accessing their MP once they’ve been successfully voted into public office.

The Chronic has also learned that, within her first two months of election, the Labour MP engaged the services of Public Relations support, despite her own long career in, er, PR.

One claim of £908 was for “Media support from a professional agency,” and the other claim of £2,482 was for “Media support and PR materials”.

***Let’s spin again, like we did last summah***

Related or not, the MP has noticeably acquired a portfolio of soft-focus ‘vanity’ photographs commissioned by the Labour Party, which involved utilising the services of an accomplished professional portrait photographer based in Newcastle.

Many photographs – used in the media and online – portray the Carlisle MP out and about at some city landmarks; meeting people in the constituency that she clearly cannot drag herself away from…