MY first and main responsibility in Parliament is to give a voice to people in Chadderton, Oldham and Royton, and that means always being willing to take on the government if they are failing our community.

What is clear, that aside from the chaos that surrounds the messaging on Covid, and the confusion on what restrictions apply in different areas, is that the "machine of government" worryingly seems to have ground to a halt.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve asked the government a number of questions relating to Oldham and the government’s Covid-19 response. There is often no indication of when we’ll get an answer beyond "as soon as it is available". This has been the case when asking how many tests have been carried out in each part of the country, which shouldn’t be that difficult.

The system is a mess, and the government must surely know it when Oldhamers are sent as far as Sheffield, Leicester and even Scotland for tests, when we have many pop-up centres locally, many within walking distance.

It became even more bizarre when members of parliament from all over the country lined up to point out that their constituents couldn’t get a test locally, but they could apparently travel to Oldham for one. It is unbelievable that the government appears to be unaware that this is happening.

For some time now, I have been highlighting the importance of the risks to people in certain jobs in our fight against Covid-19. Certain industries and roles are at a much higher risk of contracting and even dying from Covid-19, so, I asked whether the Department for Health and Social Care would publish occupational data for those testing positive.

The simple version of the answer I got was: No, the government wouldn’t be publishing the data because it requires "careful assessment" to make sure it is accurate. Basically, they just didn’t know.

Not knowing this will seriously hamper our ability to get ahead of the virus and contain outbreaks before they become a serious issue. This is why I wrote to the Health Secretary two weeks ago asking him to make sure users submit occupational data upon booking a test through the national system.

I asked the Treasury what impact assessments have been done regarding the end of the furlough scheme in October, the Chancellor’s one-size-fits-all approach could be devastating and withdraw support from thousands of jobs in Oldham West and Royton before they even have chance to recover.

The answer the Treasury Minister provided did not even attempt to deal with the question I posed, no mention of the economic impact that this would have. It would be deeply worrying if the Treasury has not considered the potential impact that pulling the rug from under these jobs would have.

If all that was poor, the head of the test and trace system gave evidence to the Select Committee, where she said that they were surprised by the increased demand for testing as schools returned. It’s a good job she isn’t the Christmas buyer for the local toy shop, there would be a lot of unhappy kids in Oldham. But this is far more serious, literally a matter of life and death.

The government just does not have the answers to questions it really ought to know. Oldham cannot afford to be let down because of the incompetence of ministers. We are making enough sacrifices here in Oldham and we need the government to pull their weight too.

We know the Prime Minister isn’t big on details, he has displayed that continuously, but we really need the rest of government to step up. We have had enough mixed messages over the last six months. Now is the time for clarity and the time for answers.

Finally, you do have to take the wins; and this week a big one came for local people, after a month of lobbying we finally got the government to realise the folly of the restriction of family members looking after children, especially when they issue a call to return to work. It’s a small win but important to support working people with children who depend on family to help with childcare.