Phil Knowles quoted in the United Arab Emirates' leading newspaper

Market Harborough Lib Dem councillor Phil Knowles has made it all the way to the Persian Gulf. He has been quoted by The National, which turns out to be the leading English-language newspaper in the UAE and claims to be "the leading English-language voice in the Middle East".

He is quoted in the course of a long article on the sorry affair of St Luke's Hospital, Market Harborough.

But why are they taking an interest in Harborough out in the Gulf?

Because, as The National helpfully explains:

A small construction firm in the Northern Emirates has become embroiled in a legal row in Britain over its failure to complete a hospital facility.

Modcon UK, a subsidiary of the Ras al Khaimah-based Modcon FZ, was hired to build a £2.3 million (Dh14m) day case unit at a hospital in Leicestershire ...

At the end of May, the trust gave Modcon UK 14 days to resume work. On June 7 it formally terminated the contract. It now plans to tender for another contractor to take over the project and hopes to have the new unit open by January.

A contract between the trust and Modcon UK was signed in January 2010, with the unit scheduled to be fully functional by August that year.

However, delivery of the 10 prefabricated units was delayed until January 2011, owing to last-minute changes to the design.

When the units arrived, they were found to have been damaged in transit and a dispute over liability ensued. The units were not finally moved from the port to the site until March.

Then in April, Leawood Builders, the local contractor hired to install and fit out the units, walked off site complaining it had not been paid by Modcon UK ...

At the end of May, the trust gave Modcon UK 14 days to resume work. On June 7 it formally terminated the contract. It now plans to tender for another contractor to take over the project and hopes to have the new unit open by January.

Phil Knowles makes his appearance at the end of the article:

The new unit is part of a £9.5m expansion to hospitals in Market Harborough. Philip Knowles, a local councillor, said there had been a campaign to improve the hospitals for 15 to 20 years.

"This is just the latest in a catalogue of disasters," he said. "This is of deep concern to everyone in Harborough. We've a real need to get this matter resolved, and resolved quickly."

You can sense people nodding in agreement all over the Persian Gulf and the south of Leicestershire.