AN ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ amount of casework has been keeping Slough’s MP busy during the coronavirus outbreak.

Tan Dhesi, Slough MP, said he has ‘never known it to be so busy’ during his three-year run as an elected representative – due to a surge in casework of Covid-19 threatening people’s employment status, health, and welfare.

He said: “Because of the coronavirus crisis, more and more people are going through hardship and grief and that’s understandable.

“In terms of our overall casework load – that’s gone up by 96 per cent from March onwards. That is more than a thousand emails of queries from constituents – but, thankfully, with my strong team we’ve been doing our level best to get through those.

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“My apologies to my constituents who may not get a quicker response as they would be accustomed to but that’s simply because of the load of casework and it takes time to get through them individually.”

He added: “My request to constituents is that if they have an issue, the best way to make sure that is logged and actioned is to send an email and those who aren’t able to send an email – please do phone in to the Slough office number at 01753 518161.

“If you were to call on that number, speak to a member of staff or leave a voice message just in case you can’t get through. Somebody will call you back and we will take it from there either through a phone or video call to go through any particular issue.”

The Labour politician, who was appointed shadow railways minister by leader Sir Kier Starmer last month, has categorised his casework load which includes housing issues, those stranded abroad still and those fearful for their jobs after British Airways (BA) announced 12,000 staff would be redundant – which is the highest level of casework Mr Dhesi is currently receiving.

On the job losses, Mr Dhesi said: “I want to reassure Slough constituents who are affected by this that I will try my level best in liaison with other MPs and the unions and other stakeholders to make sure we protect as many jobs as possible.

“I have been conveying my anxieties on behalf of constituents to Jim McMahon, the shadow transport secretary, and others in the transport team to say that this has become a major issue for those in and around west London.

“I have been extremely disheartened by the deplorable attitude of BA in how it seems to be dealing with its staff and that’s not the same as what they are doing in Spain – and I think by calling them out we need to get them to change their attitude.”

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During the peak of the pandemic, thousands of British citizens were stuck in countries in complete lockdown such as India and Pakistan – but Mr Dhesi said many Slough residents have returned from or are gradually making their way back home from, and stranded Brits abroad is no longer the top issue.

He said: “People gradually have been making their way back – so that’s, thankfully, not the number one issue anymore.

“It’s more to do now with Heathrow and what’s going on with our local economy which regards to the potential job loses.”