RECENTLY the Yorkshire Post published an article stating that supplies of the Covid-19 vaccine were going to be reduced in some areas of the north in order to allow other areas of the country to catch up. Nothing wrong with that. However following publication of the article, I was horrified to read that the Editor of the Yorkshire Post was bombarded with intimidating telephone calls from a number of conservative MPs – including our Mr Robbie Moore and Mr Philip Davis stating that the story printed in the Yorkshire Post was not true and therefore “dangerous and wrong”. Worryingly , also joining in the fray was the Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi. These are MPs we are talking about, they have been voted in by the people of Yorkshire to work on their behalf and yet here we are with a situation whereby Mr Moore and Mr Davis and others were deliberately trying to hide the truth from the people - their constituents by spreading fake news that the story was not true. This is an appalling breach of trust in public servants, a really shocking situation.

Needless to say, according to the editor of the Yorkshire Post story had been meticulously researched by the reporter concerned and was featured on BBC Radio 4 with the Director of Primary Care for NHS England confirming the accuracy of article.

So I ask the question, is freedom of the press and free speech under threat with this Conservative Government?

Yours sincerely

Pauline Allon

Ilkley