Guest columnist: Hospital board should quit if they can't keep children's ward open

How dangerous the situation will be has been highlighted by the campaign of the family of local boy Zac, a three-year-old who is often very ill.

If the ward is closed overnight, Zac and his family will have to head to Doncaster A&E, face a four-hour wait to be seen, and then make their own way back home.

Many families of local children will all face the same prospect.

If the board of the hospital are happy for that to go ahead, we need new leadership.

In the meantime, please email me at [email protected] or call on 01909 506200 to find out how you can do your bit to help children like Zac.

You can also support the campaign on social media with the hashtag #StandwithZac.

One of my jobs in Parliament is serving as a member of the Treasury Select Committee.

As part of the committee I examine Government spending and financial regulation and policy and this extends to what the Bank of England is doing.

This week I questioned the Governor of the Bank of England and I have also had the Chancellor and other key figures before and since the vote to leave the EU.

There is an understandable obsession now with the impact of that vote on the economy, with many alarmist claims.

My view is that both sides have exaggerated the situation and we just need to get on with the job calmly and sensibly.

I am working to introduce the laws we need to properly hold social media companies to account.

Currently, some companies are shirking their responsibilities for the safety of the public and are unaccountable in the event that a terrorist uses their platform to plan an attack.

In my view they also do too little to combat online abuse and harassment.

Established media outlets like the Worksop Guardian behave entirely responsibly and it is time social media companies followed suit.

I also met this week with the wildlife charity, WWF.

We discussed how to build on our previous work together, including how to clamp down on the international trade in endangered species – which we successfully campaigned for to be punishable with a prison sentence.

We have agreed to launch a campaign with the help of local schools to increase the awareness of wildlife issues and I think it is entirely appropriate for local schoolchildren lead this campaign.

I will be in contact with schools to discuss how this can be done and will continue to assist wildlife charities to protect endangered species – something that I know local people are very passionate about.