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Ahead of Christmas, Stephen Morgan MP has called upon Portsmouth people to donate to local charity The Society of St James to support those who are experiencing homelessness across the city.
Due to the sharp decline in temperature and increase in extreme weather, the Winter period is especially difficult for homeless people, with many having to bed down either on the street or in parks regardless of the season.
The Society of St James is a local charity supporting those across Southampton, Portsmouth and the wider Hampshire area experiencing homelessness and addiction, rebuilding lives through housing, recovery services, and community support.
In recent weeks the Government launched a bold new National Plan to End Homelessness to support the most vulnerable in our society to find their feet and improve their lives.
This plan is backed by £3.5 billion of investment over the next 3 years, and has been shaped by the voices of those who have experienced homelessness to support the most vulnerable people to find their feet and improve their lives.
Rough sleepers in Portsmouth will benefit from this investment, with almost £150 million of overall investment being allocated to the South East to ensure support within this region.
Mr Morgan is now calling upon those who are able to donate to give money towards The Society of St James to support rough sleepers during their most challenging months, following a partnership with the charity with his 2025 Christmas Card Competition and a recent “Cuppa & Chat” on ending homelessness which fed into the national strategy.
Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said:
“Unfortunately, there are those within our community for whom Christmas is a difficult time a year. For individuals experiencing homelessness, these harsh winter months are amongst the most dangerous.
“Without the homes, meals, and security that we may take for granted, these rough sleepers will be facing challenge after challenge as temperatures drop, and extreme weather conditions increase.
“However, as Christmas is also a time of giving and compassion, I am calling upon all those who are able to help those less fortunate.
“The Society of St James is a fantastic local charity, supporting people across our city experiencing homelessness and addiction, rebuilding lives through housing, recovery services, and community support.
“If you can give, I encourage you to donate to this vital cause. If we work together and give what we can, we can make this a brighter season for everyone.”
You can donate to The Society of St James here:
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As your local constituency MP, I take seriously the responsibility of trying to represent everyone in Mid Norfolk and to report back on what I’m doing.
Each year I send an Annual Report to all those constituents who have emailed me.
You can read my Annual Report email here or pdf version here.
Wishing everyone across Mid Norfolk a peaceful and Happy Christmas.
Yours,
George.
Click here for full email report or download a pdf version using the blue arrow below.

Jeff Smith MP welcomes £331 million cash injection for Manchester City Council to boost local services.
Under the Tories, local authorities were starved of investment, with core spending power down by around a quarter since 2010. That put immense pressure on councils up and down the country, including Manchester City Council.
But the Labour Government has announced a radical overhaul of how local government is funded, reversing Rishi Sunak’s efforts to put money into wealthy shires and Tory seats.
Fair Funding is the next step on Labour’s journey to build stronger communities and reverse a decade and a half of austerity and decline under the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
England’s councils will get [over £XX billion] for essential services with more money going to places with the greatest need.
The funding injection is aimed at restoring pride and opportunity in places that have been left behind, to get back what has been lost. Councils will have more resources available to bring back libraries, youth services, clean streets, and community hubs.
The money is part of the first multi-year funding settlement in over a decade, giving councils three years of financial certainty so they can plan ahead rather than firefight year to year.
In total, councils will see an [X] per cent increase in their core spending power compared to 2024-25 to pay for services including bin collections, housing, and children’s services.
And in a turning point for the way local government is funded, the outdated system that saw some councils build up savings while others faced financial collapse has been replaced.
Instead, places are now being funded using an evidence-based system that properly recognises local circumstances and the true costs of providing services in deprived communities.
Labour Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed said:
“This is a turning point, a chance to turn the page on a decade of cuts and callousness, and for local leaders to invest in getting back what has been lost – to bring back libraries, youth services, clean streets, and community hubs.
“For too long, deprived communities were left behind. Today we’re ending the postcode lottery so everyone can access the services their community deserves.”
Manchester Withington MP, Jeff Smith said:
“I well remember the painful decisions that our Council had to take after the coalition government brought in its austerity policies in 2011. So I joined other Manchester MPs in writing to the government asking to confirm a substantial uplift in funding for our Council. I’m pleased after 14 years of Tory austerity, Labour is putting money back into our local services in Manchester”
Amanda Martin MP for Portsmouth, welcomes the announcement that workers across Portsmouth will benefit from better workers’ rights, with this Labour Government’s landmark Employment Rights Bill passed into legislation.
This newly passed legislation introduces key new measures to bring workers’ rights into the 21st century, including ending exploitative zero hours contracts; establishing day one rights for paternity, parental and bereavement leave; strengthening statutory sick pay; and establishing a new Fair Work Agency.
Amanda Martin MP for Portsmouth North, celebrates this proud moment for this Labour Government, which has worked closely with businesses and trade unions to deliver these generational upgrades to workers’ rights.
The new laws come despite consistent efforts from the Conservatives, Reform, Liberal Democrats and Green Party to block and water down this legislation. By putting up barriers at every point, these opposition parties have not only attempted to delay and deny the implementation of better working conditions for employees but also created uncertainty and caused economic harm for local businesses.
This Labour government’s new measures mean that sick pay and paternity leave changes are set to be introduced by April 2026, with additional protections, including for Britain’s lowest paid workers, being introduced in line with the Government’s delivery timetable.
Through constructive conversations between trade unions and business representatives, this law will also introduce a qualifying period for unfair dismissal, reduced from 24 months to 6 months (whilst maintaining existing day one protection against discrimination and automatically unfair grounds for dismissal) to ensure employees are given more security at work, whilst businesses are given more time to prepare for these changes.
Commenting on the bill, Amanda Martin MP said: “I’m delighted to be part of a Labour Government that has delivered upgrades to workers’ rights for employees right across Portsmouth.
“After speaking to local residents, I’ve heard how much of a difference this will make to their lives – offering more security, better working conditions and increasing opportunity at work. These laws will strengthen certainty for businesses in my constituency too, benefitting those brilliant businesses in Portsmouth already treating their workers’ right, levelling the playing field and helping to improve retention of staff.
“After opposition parties all attempted to block and water down these transformative upgrades to workers’ rights, I’m proud to have voted for this Labour Government’s legislation, delivering an economy that works for both businesses and workers alike.”
Minister for Employment Right, Kate Dearden MP said: “I am delighted the Lords have passed the Employment Rights Bill. This is a historic moment that will make working life fairer, more secure and better for millions of people across the UK.”
Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle MP said: “The Employment Rights Bill has cleared its final parliamentary hurdle.”
“This is a piece of legislation only a Labour government could bring and long fought for by many of my colleagues and the wider movement. It will being our employment rights into the 21st century with many of these measures long overdue.
“The hard work of implementing it starts now. I look forward to working with trade unions, business and civil society to make it a reality.”
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I recently met the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to present him with the winning entries from my Christmas Card competition.
The designs by Isla-Grace Dininno (Swiss Valley Primary) and George Davies (Ysgol Gymraeg Brynsierfel) are now on display in the Speaker’s Rooms in Parliament over the Christmas period alongside artwork from similar competitions across the country.
I’m delighted to announce the winner of my 2025 Christmas Card Competition. Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the amazing young artists who entered. My team received so many brilliant entries, full of festive cheer, snowy scenes, and creative sparkle. I loved every single one of your entries, which brilliantly captured this year’s South London Winter Wonderland theme. It was incredibly hard to choose just one winner because you all did such a fantastic job!

Congratulations to Nico, age 9, from Corpus Christi Primary School, whose beautiful drawing of a festive South London scene was chosen as the winning design! Nico’s artwork is now proudly featured on the front of this year’s official Christmas card and will go out to thousands of people as my official e-card as well. Well done, Nico

I also want to give a special shout-out to Liam, Year 8, from Elms Academy, whose clever and colourful design was picked as the runner-up and is featured on the inside of this year’s card. You can now see all your entries proudly displayed below.
Thank you again to everyone who entered and made this year’s card competition the most magical yet! You can see all the entries below.










The post Announcing the Winners of My 2025 Christmas Card Competition appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
The closure of Banbury Museum would be a devastating blow for our town. I have created this petition to urge Cherwell District Council to find alternative funding, so the museum can continue to serve our community. Please see the petition below: https://www.change.org/p/save-banbury-museum-and-gallery-urge-cherwell-to-source-alternative-funding
The post Banbury Museum Petition appeared first on Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.
This Budget is about making fair choices for the British people.
We’re stabilising the economy and doubling down on driving growth.
We’re supporting our high streets and tackling the cost of living.
We’re building a stronger, fairer country – one where child poverty falls and living standards rise.
After years of decline, there is a lot of work to do. But this government is committed to making the right choices for our country.

The post Budget 2025: Reaction from Liz appeared first on Liz Kendall.
Local beauty businesses and students showcased their contribution at a special event in Westminster.
Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking, helped local beauty businesses “take over Parliament” to celebrate this year’s British Beauty Week. Hairdressers, nail salons and beauty academy students – all from Barking and Dagenham – were invited to Parliament by the MP for a special reception and tour.
British Beauty Week is promoted by the British Beauty Council every year to celebrate the contribution of beauty businesses to our economy and high streets.
The theme of this year’s Beauty Week is the future of beauty, highlighting the industry’s innovation and sustainability. The UK beauty industry contributes over £31 billion to the economy each year and supports more than 85,000 jobs in London.

Commenting on the takeover, Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking said: “I invited local beauty businesses and students to takeover Parliament to celebrate their contribution, let them know how important they are for our community, and how much this government values them.
“They employ hundreds of local people, bring life to our high streets, and help people feel great every day. They are vital for our local economy, and today’s takeover proved the future of beauty is undoubtedly in Barking and Dagenham.”
Victoria Brownlie, Chief of Policy & Sustainability at the British Beauty Council, who was at the event, said: “The hair and beauty industry provides so much to so many and events like this help those working in the industry to feel seen, recognised and appreciated, just as they deserve to. Their social, cultural and economic contribution cements them as serious businesses, not just fluffy stuff that girls do, and we’re so grateful to Nesil for shining a light on this during British Beauty Week.”

Erica Brobbey, from Empress Hair and Beauty, a business in Barking, said: “It was an honour to join fellow beauty professionals in Parliament and proudly represent Barking and Dagenham’s thriving beauty community. Meeting other business owners and speaking with Victoria from the British Beauty Council was truly inspiring. The event highlighted the real impact our industry has, not just economically, but in the confidence and wellbeing it brings to people every day.
“I’m proud to be part of a community that continues to empower others and contribute so positively to the local economy. Events like this show that the future of beauty is bright, and it’s happening right here in Barking and Dagenham.”
Sure Start was life-changing for so many people in Bassetlaw, transforming the lives of children by putting in place family support in the earliest years of life. Sure Start, introduced by the last Labour government, helped level the playing field for children from lower income families, with research showing that children who attended a Sure Start centre were much more likely to perform better at school.
The previous Government cut community services, scrapping Sure Start, leaving a gaping hole in family services. When they left government, one in four families with children under five couldn’t access local children’s centres, rising to one in three lower income families. Speaking to local families in Bassetlaw, I hear time and again an ask for more support around SEND, youth services, and early development.
I welcome the news that the Government are building on the proud legacy of Sure Start, and reviving family services by rolling out 1,000 ‘Best Start Family Hubs’ by April 2026, including here in Bassetlaw.
Best Start Family Hubs will be a one stop shop for parents needing support, including on difficulty breastfeeding, housing issues or children’s early development, and other services such as:
The post Giving Children in Bassetlaw the Best Start in Life appeared first on Jo White MP.
It was great to call into Neighbourhood Watch in Pelsall again and catch up with Edwin and Andrew.
We discussed a range of local issues across the Rushall, Shelfield, Pelsall, and Brownhills Neighbourhood Watch area. Our focus was on how we can work together as one community to address these challenges.
It was also fantastic to hear about Project Phoenix – a pilot community-run initiative launched by Walsall Council! This project is dedicated to building a stronger community right across our Borough, and I’m really keen to see the positive impact it will have.
An abridged version of this article ran in The Times on 3rd February 2025
In 2007, in the pages of this newspaper, I argued that Britain should seize the moment and move Heathrow to the Thames Estuary, freeing up the congested west London site for much-needed housing while creating a world-leading transport hub fit for the 21st century. It was an ambitious plan—perhaps too ambitious for a nation that has lost its appetite for grand infrastructure. Seventeen years later, what do we have? The same tired debates, the same dithering, and now, a third runway proposal that represents the absolute minimum of what could be done. It is not a vision; it is a concession to stagnation.
Throughout history, Britain built infrastructure that transformed cities and continents. The Victorians laid thousands of miles of railways across India and Africa. British engineers built the world’s first underground railway in London, the great docks of Hong Kong, and the vast shipping hubs that made global trade possible. Ours was once a nation that saw scale and complexity as challenges to be overcome, not reasons to prevaricate. Today, while China constructs floating airports in Hong Kong and Dalian, we are still arguing over a few extra miles of tarmac at an aging airport hemmed in by suburban sprawl.
The case for expanding Heathrow is undeniable. The airport operates at near capacity, with any disruption causing delays that ripple across the global aviation network. Additional capacity is needed. But the third runway is not a bold leap forward—it is an unimaginative compromise. The design is a relic of a bygone era when Britain was still willing to approve large infrastructure projects but had already begun its slow descent into cautious incrementalism. Surely for a solution we should be looking beyond the immediate horizon, daring to create something transformative.
Compare this to the grand infrastructure ambitions of Asia. Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok, which replaced the legendary but perilous Kai Tak airport in the 1990s, was built on reclaimed land. It was a marvel of engineering (mostly British), completed in just six years. Now, China is taking the concept even further: Dalian is constructing a floating airport, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This is a country that doesn’t simply accept geographic limitations—it overcomes them. Britain, meanwhile, is paralysed by protest groups, endless consultations, and political hand-wringing.
A floating airport in the Thames Estuary—an idea proposed and swiftly dismissed—would have been a statement of ambition. London could have had its own Chek Lap Kok, a world-class hub unencumbered by the constraints of Heathrow’s location. Instead, we are left with a piecemeal expansion of an outdated site, in a project that will take decades and still leave Britain trailing behind.
The environmental argument against expansion is often cited as a reason for delay, but it is a red herring. Modern aviation is rapidly advancing towards lower emissions and greater efficiency. If the concern is air pollution and carbon footprints, the answer is not to stifle airport expansion but to embrace new technology, support cleaner aviation fuels, and invest in modern air traffic management. Britain should be leading these efforts, not using environmental concerns as an excuse for stagnation.
The economic cost of our hesitation is immense. Aviation is a key driver of trade, tourism, and investment. Heathrow’s constraints mean we lose out to European rivals, with airlines shifting long-haul routes to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. The third runway, even if built, will do little to reclaim lost ground. By the time it is operational—assuming it even survives the judicial challenges that will inevitably come—other nations will have long since surpassed us.
What Britain needs is a fundamental shift in mindset. We must stop viewing major infrastructure projects as necessary evils to be endured and start treating them as national priorities. This requires reforming our planning laws, streamlining approval processes, and fostering a political culture that celebrates engineering excellence rather than recoiling from it.
The third runway at Heathrow is not the answer—it is a symptom of our decline. Instead of an afterthought tacked onto an aging airport, we should be considering radical alternatives: offshore airports, high-speed rail integration to regional hubs, and a renewed commitment to infrastructure that places Britain at the forefront of global connectivity. We were once a nation that built the world’s most advanced transport networks, that pioneered engineering breakthroughs others only dreamed of. We can be that nation again—but only if we stop settling for mediocrity and start daring to think bigger.
The world is not waiting for Britain to catch up. While we squabble over a single new runway, China is building entire new airports on water. The contrast is stark, and the lesson is clear: boldness breeds success, hesitation ensures decline. If Britain truly wishes to remain a global player, we must abandon the timid incrementalism of the third runway and embrace the kind of audacity that once made us great.
Kit Malthouse 1st February 2025
Christmas is a very special time. It's when we come together with friends and family to take stock, and give thanks for what we have.
Some years – in the best of times, this is cause for celebration.
Other years – it's more complicated if we're missing loved ones,
affected by illness, or facing money worries, homelessness, or loneliness.
Sometimes – let’s be honest, for many reasons, Christmas can just be about getting through it, and that's ok!
Because regardless of the year that’s been, or the circumstances you find yourself in, Christmas offers everyone a precious gift – hope.
Last week I was sworn in as the MP for South Shields for the fifth time, and each time it strikes me how incredibly honoured I feel that you have put your faith in me as the first female MP to represent you in Parliament. It was a truly historic night as the UK elected […]
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