What made me want to become an MP | Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham column

The answer comes from the Brexit days, where I would watch what was going on in Westminster getting frustrated at the paralysis in Parliament.

I believe that our borough deserved better and that politics should have, at its core, a focus on delivering for the people and businesses that make up our great country. That’s not always popular with the journalists who want a comment on every bit of drama going on, or the Labour Party who lack in substance so must go on style. But it’s what drives me.

However, at times that isn’t always easy.

I put a lot of the blame for that at the door of the media, who have much to answer for. Driven by the need to fill up airtime 24/7, they aren’t happy with letting politicians get on with running the country. Instead, they drive division, try to find gotcha moments and increasingly focus on clickbait headlines.

One such example came this week when the BBC – our national broadcaster – wrote a headline and led the bulletins with “Liz Truss ditches pledge to raise pensions with inflation”.

That’s pretty unambiguous. Most people who read or hear that would assume that it means the triple lock is being suspended. That’s what ‘ditches’ means. But that was never the case. The reality was the Prime Minister and Chancellor had both said they wanted to review Government spending and so wouldn’t commit to any single measure until everything had been looked at. Not because the triple lock wasn’t safe – it was and is (I know because I asked in private meetings) - but because once you have ruled one thing out, the media will hound you on every other issue. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen. Now their questions typically begin with “Well what about…”. The BBC did later ‘correct’ the headline but by then the damage was done. And all to secure those all-important clicks.

With anxiety levels rising for pensioners across the country because of these headlines though, it was right that the Prime Minister confirmed the triple lock still stands.

I also want to reassure residents that just as we got through Covid-19, we will get through this latest bit of economic difficulty. My priority, whatever is going on in the bubble, is constituency and country – Burnley and Britain.