A former Guardian journalist who is on the advisory board of the pre-school which Rishi Sunak visited today has criticised the PM, and Cornwall reporters, for completely 'missing the point'.
Rishi Sunak visited Nancledra preschool in Penzance today where one of the people on the advisory board is Hannah Ray, a former Guardian reporter.
She sent a message to her former colleague covering the event asking why no one seemed interested that the actual pre-school he is in was threatened with closure due to a lack of funding and and the staff paid barely above minimum wage.
"Rishi Sunak visited our preschool today, and completely missed the point" she said. "He did a puzzle with one of the children, looked at the guinea pigs, looked at the garden, and then took questions from the local press.
"But while the press asked about second homes, his response to Brianna Ghey comments made at PMQs, and local council funding, no one – including the PM – seemed at all interested that the very preschool he was sitting in is under constant threat of closure due to lack of government funding into early years provision and lack of investment in early years staff training and incentives.
"Government funding is now available for nearly all two-year-olds. However, the living wage has gone up by 9.8%. Staff are barely paid above the minimum wage yet have the biggest responsibility, working long hard hours to care for the most vulnerable people in society. The preschool is bursting at the seams with working parents wanting to get the childcare they need, but there aren’t the spaces.
"Why did Rishi visit our preschool, in one of the most under-funded areas of the country, and one of the most deprived, if he didn’t really care about how it was doing?"
Local Democracy Reporter Lee Trewhela covered the event for the Packet today and in his report said the local journalists were given 12 minutes to ask their questions.
In his report he said despite it being called a 'huddle with PM' the reality is only being allowed to ask one of the myriad questions he'd come armed with.
Rishi Sunak also visited Gentle Dental surgery in Newquay that does not accept adult NHS dental patients.
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