THE Oxford MP named as Labour's chief economic spokeswoman has called on the government to fill the gaps in its coronavirus relief packages.
Anneliese Dodds was named as the shadow chancellor on Sunday afternoon, following Keir Starmer's victory in the Labour leadership contest on Saturday.
She is the first female MP to ever hold the post, and if Labour were elected to government in 2024, would be the first woman chancellor of the exchequer.
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The Oxford East MP said she had had calls from constituents in recent weeks, contacting her after facing problems due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown to slow the spread of the bug.
Meanwhile, a video of Ms Dodds daughter interrupting an interview with Sky News yesterday about her new role has been shared widely on social media.
In her new role, Ms Dodds said she would highlight gaps in the government's support packages to help individuals and businesses through the coronavirus crisis.
Ms Dodds at the General Election count last year. Picture: Ed Nix
Ms Dodds said 'quite a number of constituents' had contacted her with issues following the lockdown.
These included individuals worried about the government-backed furlough scheme, which would see 80 per cent of wages paid form the public purse to workers at restaurants, bars and other businesses which couldn't open during the lockdown.
Ms Dodds said: "When it comes to the furlough scheme a number of people have been made unemployed. We need to move ahead with the scheme as quickly as possible and businesses should be encouraged to take it up if they haven't."
She also said there were gaps in the system for some self-employed workers.
This was recently highlighted by Oxford City Council, which as called on the government to find ways to help the self-employed who have not met the criteria for the funding at the moment.
The MP said: "A number of people who have come to us have fallen through the gaps. They also need social security very quickly."
Ms Dodds during last year's Stop the Coup protest on Broad Street
For those unable to claim from either support package, Universal Credit is their only option.
But the new shadow chancellor said her Oxford casework staff had seen a flood of people in recent weeks who had been worried by the initial five-week wait for UC.
To make up for the wait, future UC payments can be made in advance, but this is then taken in instalments from payments over a series of months, leaving people poorer as a result.
Ms Dodds called for this loan system to be overhauled for the coronavirus crisis, and be replaced with an initial UC grant instead, so that people are not left in a form of debt to the government.
She said: "We need to avoid people falling into more personal debt. We were already in quite a tough position when it came to personal debt before this happened."
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The Labour MP assured constituents she could balance her new duties as a watchful eye on the treasury with issues in Oxford.
She said: "I was in the shadow treasury team before under John McDonnell, so I am quite used to combining my constituency work with my shadow treasury focus."
The MP thanked her constituency staff for their hard work, saying she 'really wanted to shout out to them'.
Ahead of her appointment as shadow chancellor, Ms Dodds said the solution to the new economic downturn would need to be different from the austerity measures implemented after the 2008 financial crash.
Ms Dodds said: "Every country is going to have large bills from dealing with this pandemic. We need to be more thoughtful about how we deal with the aftermath of this crisis."
Her new boss, Keir Starmer, also said a new economic settlement was needed after the crisis, with the potential of a higher tax for the wealthy.
The blooper moment on Sky News
While speaking on Sky News yesterday morning, Ms Dodds daughter Isabella gatecrashed the interview.
The video of the three-year-old entering the room has drawn comparison with the viral moment when political analyst Robert Kelly's BBC news interview was interrupted by his children in 2017.
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